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Victory on marriage recognition

From:	Rick Rosendall
Sent:	Tuesday, May 05, 2009 2:58 PM
To:	GLAA Members
Subject:	Victory

Greetings from the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.

Friends,

I'm back at my office from a victory lunch after witnessing the D.C. Council's historic 12 to 1 vote to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions as marriages in the District of Columbia.

Here is a link to a story from News Channel 4:
http://tinyurl.com/cm74w2

The bill (Bill # 18-10) now goes to Mayor Adrian Fenty for his promised signature, then to the U.S. Congress for the usual congressional review period. We have assurances from key Democratic allies that any attempt to overturn this bill in Congress will be blocked.

This, of course, is only one step. We have more work ahead of us to win full marriage equality here in the nation's capital and throughout the country. But today is a great day for our city. Thanks to the twelve city council members who stood firm. Thanks to all our fellow advocates. Thanks to the many ministers, even those who oppose marriage equality, who have distanced themselves from the inflammatory rhetoric of Bishop Harry Jackson--but praise to all of the affirming clergy and congregations in our city. And a special hug for former Council member Arrington Dixon, who included marriage equality in his no-fault divorce bill in 1975. And here's to the late former GLAA president Cade Ware, who testified in favor of that bill in 1975 on behalf of GLAA along with Frank Kameny and Craig Howell. Thirty-four years later, it is right to pause from our ongoing fight for equal justice to remember all those whose efforts over many decades helped make this moment possible.

God bless the good people of Washington, D.C. and their elected representatives who today stand on the right side of history.

Rick Rosendall
Vice President for Political Affairs
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
www.glaa.org

PS: Also passed today, on the consent agenda, is the Domestic Partnership Judicial Determination of Parentage Act, which represents months of work by many people to improved protections for our families. That too now goes to Mayor Fenty and then to the Hill for congressional review. Thanks especially to Nancy Polikoff for her superb work on that bill. And thanks to our colleague and former GLAA President Bob Summersgill, who has worked tirelessly and smartly in crafting legislation to protect all D.C. families and the strategy that has worked so well to see it through to passage.