Sep 21, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and nine of the 13 members of City Council have pledged to support legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in the District, assuring that a gay marriage bill could pass easily here.

According to updated survey information released this week by the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, support for same-sex marriage rights in the city is stronger than ever. The group said it compiled the information from questionnaires completed by Fenty and each of the Council members during their most recent election campaign.

But in a statement posted on its web site, GLAA reiterated its long-held view that D.C. should not move ahead with a same-sex marriage bill now because Congress would likely overturn it, even though the gay-supportive Democratic Party gained control of Congress this year.

GLAA and other gay groups have said an ill-timed same-sex marriage bill in D.C. might also prompt Congress to pass a law banning the city from adopting full marriage rights for gays in the future. Congress has the final say on any laws passed by city government.

“We believe that several benchmarks should be achieved before D.C. proceeds with a marriage bill,” GLAA said in a statement, “including legislative and budgetary autonomy for the District and adoption and preservation of marriage equality by several additional states.”

Fenty and all 13 Council members also support the enactment of domestic partnership legislation providing the same rights and benefits of marriage, the GLAA questionnaire data show. Council has already passed sweeping domestic partnership legislation that provides nearly all marriage-related rights and benefits for same-sex couples.

The survey information also shows that Fenty and 12 of the 13 Council members favor city recognition of legally sanctioned same-sex relationships from other states as D.C. domestic partnerships.

Release of the GLAA survey data came shortly before the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the Maryland Constitution does not give same-sex couples the right to marry. It also came shortly after Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would veto for a second time a same-sex marriage bill passed by the California Legislature.

On Tuesday, a Republican-initiated filibuster in the U.S. Senate killed a bill that would have given the District a full voting member in the House of Representatives. D.C. currently has a single, non-voting delegate to the House, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Gay activists and most local gay rights groups had endorsed the effort to create a first-ever seat in the House for the District.

Council members pledging support for a same-sex marriage bill are Council Chair Vincent Gray (D-At-Large), and Council members Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), David Catania (I-At-Large), Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6).

Council members who declined to support same-sex marriage legislation were Carol Schwartz (R-At-Large), Kwame Brown (D-At-Large), and Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7). Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) did not return the GLAA questionnaire and hasn’t stated publicly how he would vote on a same-sex marriage bill.

By not completing the questionnaire, Barry also became the only Council member not to pledge support for legislation recognizing legally sanctioned relationships from other states.

GLAA Vice President Rick Rosendall said GLAA made it clear to candidates and city officials that it is not asking at the present time for city recognition of same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts or civil unions performed in other states.

“We’re not asking for a back door on marriage,” Rosendall said. “This won’t satisfy everybody. But until we are able to get marriage, we want to do as much as we can for domestic partnerships.”