Hey there, I wanted to provide our online community with some interesting news about the struggle for marriage equality in/around the US. Today is a great historical moment because Washington D.C. has officially begun to recognize the marriages of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in the District of Columbia (right on Congress's doorstep)! This news comes from 365Gay.com and the Washington Blade (an online news service that reports on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender concerns). In a related vein, while this "step" will only allow the LGBT community to be recognized, it is widely believed that the D.C. Council Members could approve Marriage Equality Legislation in the coming year. I'm hoping this will happen very soon.
The Online Editor of 365Gay.com, Jennifer Venasco, reports the good news from D.C. ~
As of 12:01(am) this morning, gays and lesbians who are married in Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine or Vermont now also have their marriages recognized in Washington, D.C.
The D.C. City Council approved the measure last month, but it was subject to a 30-day Congressional review period. Since Congress took no action, gay and lesbian marriages performed legally in other states are now legal in D.C. as well. No same-sex marriages, however, are recognized by the Federal government.
Yay for local government and "booooo!" for national government (though I suspect we'll get the federal rights one day too. The haters won't last forever, but the message & ideals of equality and freedom will)! Jennifer Nevasco also shows us what the conservative Washington Times has recently said about these recent developments in the struggle for marriage equality:
"The law will affect everything from tax filing, employer health care benefits, inheritance and hospital visitation rights to mundane activities, such as gym memberships and car rentals.
"Recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions strengthens many rights that were already in place with the District’s Health Benefits Expansion Act of 1992, which allowed gay couples to register as domestic partners and receive some of the same benefits afforded to married couples.
"The act, which did not go into effect until 2002 because implementation was blocked by Congress, has been amended over the years to offer additional benefits that allow same-sex couples to make medical decisions on each other’s behalf, to benefit from hospital visitation rights and to file taxes jointly, among other things.
"The U.S. Census Bureau lists 3,839 same-sex couples as residing in the District, according to 2005-2007 data. And the nearly 33,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual people — single and coupled — living in the District made up approximately 8.1 percent of the city’s total adult population in 2005."
Although I'm not a resident of D.C., I thought this news was rather kewl because it's another step towards marriage equality and equal citizenship in the USA. This news is also exciting since this is a victory over the opposition being stirred up by Bishop Harry Jackson, who has been trying to stop the recognition of gays' marriages in D.C. As some of you may remember, "Bishop" Harry had been trying to stop D.C. from recognizing the marriages of teh gays by organizing one of those pesky referendums, but his hateful efforts failed. So sorry Harry! Love is stronger than hate and fear.