D.C. Council approves recognition by D.C. of same-sex marriages licensed elsewhere

05/05/09 U.S. News & World Report:

The Council of Washington, D.C., voted 12-1 to recognize same-sex marriages licensed elsewhere. "The legislation is expected to be signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty, who supports same-sex marriage; it will then go to Congress, which has the power to block the bill during a 30-day period of review mandated by home rule. Council member David Catania said that if Congress doesn't block the bill, he plans to introduce another measure legalizing gay marriage in the District."

American University Law Professor Nancy Polikoff summarizes statements by D.C. Council members before the vote. She objects to Catania's representation that he needed legal protections for his same-sex relationship, because she finds that D.C.'s domestic partnership law already confers them. She also comments on D.C.'s expansive "law on surrogate medical decisionmaking."