October 2 - Same-sex marriage close to D.C. approval

D.C. Council member David A. Catania will introduce legislation Tuesday to allow same-sex couples to marry - a bill virtually assured passage by the council and unlikely to generate enough opposition to be overturned by the Democrat-controlled Congress.

The bill, which could be given final approval by the council as early as December, would expand current laws that recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions to allow such marriages to be performed in the District. Currently, four states perform same-sex marriages. New Hampshire is scheduled to begin performing same-sex marriages in 2010, and Maine voters will consider the issue in a ballot initiative in November.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting congressional representative, said she was confident that a same-sex marriage bill would survive any congressional opposition. "Opposition by some in the House already has been announced, but I believe we can and should defeat opposition to gay marriage rights in the District of Columbia as enacted by the District's own elected officials," she said.

"Democrats have the House, the Senate and the presidency, so it is an uphill battle at best," said Mr. Chaffetz, who opposes same-sex marriage. "The deck is stacked against us at this point."