Time Magazine Covering Gay Marriage in DC

Time magazine has given the issue of same-sex marriage in Washington, DC national attention with a story just posted on Wednesday. Here's an excerpt:

The war over same-sex marriage has rolled from state to state, almost always stoking fierce debate and bitter acrimony. On Tuesday, Washington, D.C., became the battlefield when council member David Catania, an at-large independent, introduced legislation that would make the nation's capital the latest jurisdiction where gays and lesbians could legally wed, and the only one south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

But while noisy debate has accompanied the issue here, there has been little doubt about whether the legislation will succeed. Nine of Catania's colleagues on the 13-member council have co-sponsored the measure, prompting him to say he was "completely confident" in its passage. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has also pledged to sign the bill. If that were not guarantee enough, a precursor bill that allowed Washington to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions sailed through 12 to 1 in May, with the sole opposition vote coming from council member and former mayor Marion Barry. The Democratic-controlled Congress, which can reject legislation affecting Washington, is not expected to block the bill, nor is the White House expected to object. And prospects for any referendum effort to halt same-sex marriages appear equally dim. When opponents sought a ballot initiative to halt the earlier bill, the board of elections deemed the effort illegal under Washington's Human Rights Act, a decision that was upheld in court. A pending effort to do the same with Catania's new bill will likely meet the same fate.

Click here to read more, including speculation on the impact of the opposition.