May 06, 2005  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO JR.  | COMMENTS     

filings would have been politically suicidal,” Rosendall said.

As he has in the past, gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) disagreed with GLAA’s position, saying the city has an obligation to inform its gay residents whether its marriage law permits recognition of same-sex marriages issued in Massachusetts or other jurisdictions. Graham said the issue remains alive despite the fact that the tax office has ruled that married same-sex couples could not file joint tax returns.

“The genie is out of the bottle,” Graham told the Blade this week. “There is no way we can put the genie back in the bottle. There will be more Ed Horvaths coming down the road.”

Graham said he would continue to urge Williams to release the opinion that Spagnoletti prepared one year ago on whether existing D.C. law allows or requires the city to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

“People who are in fact married who come from somewhere else are entitled to be told if they are married in the District of Columbia,” Graham said. “So I continue to call upon the mayor to release the Spagnoletti opinion. It’s not a policy decision. It’s a legal opinion.”

Carl Schmid, a member of the D.C. Appropriations Working Group, an ad hoc group of gay rights advocates that lobbies Congress against enacting anti-gay amendments to the D.C. appropriations bill, said the latest ruling by the city’s tax office is unlikely to remove threats of anti-gay amendments aimed at D.C.

“This could quiet things down a little,” Schmid said. “But I’m still very concerned about what Congress may do. This doesn’t make the issue go away.”

Lou Chibbaro Jr. can be reached at lchibbaro@washblade.com.