Washington
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty
last
month
reaffirmed
his
campaign
promise
to
sign
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
if
City
Council
approves
it,
saying
he’s
“always
stood
in
full
support
for
full
marriage
rights”
for
gays.
But
the
mayor,
speaking
May
14
before
the
Gertrude
Stein
Democratic
Club,
said
he
remains
aware
that
many
in
the
gay
community
believe
it
would
be
counterproductive
to
move
ahead
with
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill
until
it
became
certain
that
Congress
would
not
overturn
it,
or
worse,
pass
a
law
banning
same-sex
unions
in
the
city.
Under
the
city’s
limited
home
rule
charter,
Congress
has
final
authority
to
overturn
or
pass
any
laws
it
deems
appropriate
for
the
District.
“I
have
not
heard
as
much
since
the
Congress
changed
hands
about
whether
that
now
alters
some
of
the
people’s
views
who
weren’t
in
favor
of
the
Council
and
the
mayor
going
forward,”
Fenty
told
members
of
the
Stein
Club,
a
gay
partisan
group.
“So
maybe
it’s
time
to
start
the
dialogue
again.”
Most
activists
associated
with
the
Stein
Club
and
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Activists
Alliance,
the
city’s
two
most
influential
gay
political
groups,
say
they
believe
the
time
is
not
right
to
move
ahead
with
a
same-sex
marriage
bill
for
D.C.
Officials
with
both
groups
say
that
while
leaders
of
the
new
Democratic-controlled
Congress
tend
to
be
supportive
of
gay
rights,
the
newly
elected
Democrats
—
who
enabled
their
party
to
win
a
narrow
majority
over
Republicans
—
come
from
moderate
to
conservative
states
and
districts.
Most
of
these
new
members
have
expressed
opposition
to
same-sex
marriage
and
many
would
likely
vote
to
overturn
a
D.C.
“gay
marriage”
bill,
GLAA
and
Stein
Club
members
have
said.
Activists
favoring
a
cautious
approach
point
to
Congress’
decision
in
the
early
1980s
to
overturn
the
District’s
decision
to
repeal
its
sodomy
law,
delaying
the
repeal
effort
for
more
than
a
decade.
They
also
point
to
Congress’
decision
to
block
the
city
from
implementing
its
domestic
partners
law
for
nine
years
and
its
continued
ban
on
a
clean
needle
exchange
program
for
addicts
and
a
medical
marijuana
bill.
“It’s
a
real
threat,
not
a
remote
or
theoretical
abstraction,”
said
GLAA
Vice
President
Rick
Rosendall,
in
discussing
how
Congress
would
react
to
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill.
Local
gay
Democratic
activist
Lane
Hudson
has
emerged
as
the
most
vocal
supporter
of
moving
ahead
with
an
equal
marriage
rights
bill
in
the
District.
Hudson
has
said
he
believes
Democratic
leaders
in
Congress
would
block
efforts
to
overturn
such
a
bill.
Earlier
this
year,
he
told
a
gay
town
meeting
sponsored
by
the
National
Lesbian
&
Gay
Journalists
Association
that
Council
should
pass
such
a
bill
before
the
2008
congressional
elections.
This
week,
Hudson
said
he
and
other
local
activists
recently
discussed
strategy
for
a
D.C.
marriage
rights
bill
for
gays
and
determined
such
a
bill
should
move
forward
“within
the
next
few
years.”
“Folks
I
spoke
with
want
to
pursue
full
marriage
equality,
but
there
is
no
consensus
yet
on
a
timeline,”
he
said.
“That
timeline
is
going
to
be
sooner
than
what
GLAA
is
calling
for.
But
it’s
not
going
to
be
right
away.”
Hudson
did
not
identify
the
other
activists
he
said
are
working
with
him.
GLAA
has
said
it
is
committed
to
bringing
about
same-sex
marriage
as
soon
as
its
members
and
its
gay
activist
allies
determine
Congress
would
not
intervene.
In
public
statements,
GLAA
has
said
it
believes
these
developments
would
be
necessary
before
the
city
should
move
ahead
with
a
same-sex
marriage
bill:
•
Passage
by
Congress
of
a
bill
introduced
by
D.C.
Congressional
Delegate
Eleanor
Holmes
Norton
(D-D.C.)
granting
the
city
a
full
vote
in
the
House
of
Representatives.
•
Passage
by
Congress
of
full
budget
autonomy
for
the
District.
•
Passage
by
Congress
of
full
legislative
autonomy
so
the
District’s
local
laws
are
no
longer
subject
to
congressional
review.
•
Passage
of
same-sex
marriage
by
at
least
six
states,
which
would
likely
“temper”
Congress’s
impulse
to
meddle
with
D.C.
affairs
on
the
gay
marriage
question.
Political
observers
believe
the
Norton
bill
has
a
reasonable
chance
of
passing,
but
most
experts
don’t
believe
Congress
is
likely
to
grant
the
city
full
budget
and
legislative
autonomy
any
time
soon,
perhaps
not
for
another
decade.
“The
point
is
not
to
wait
until
there
is
no
risk,
but
until
we
have
a
fighting
chance,”
said
GLAA
Vice
President
Rick
Rosendall,
in
a
recent
commentary.
Leaders
of
the
two
largest
national
gay
political
groups
had
differing
views
on
how
Congress
likely
would
respond
to
a
D.C.
marriage
bill.
“We
have
a
friendly
leadership
in
place
but
we
still
have
a
very
conservative
Congress,”
said
David
Smith,
vice
president
of
Human
Rights
Campaign,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
civil
rights
group.
“I
don’t
believe
that
would
be
a
smart,
strategic
move
at
this
juncture,”
Smith
said,
in
discussing
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill.
Matt
Foreman,
executive
director
of
the
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force,
said
his
“gut”
feeling
is
that
gays
and
their
political
allies
“would
have
a
strong
shot
at
either
blocking
or
defeating”
an
attempt
in
Congress
to
overturn
a
D.C.
same-sex
marriage
bill.
According
to
Foreman,
a
large
number
of
senators
and
House
members
who
voted
...
