The District of Columbia became the sixth jurisdiction in the U.S. to legalize "gay marriage" March 3, but that could change if a plan to rescind the law and have the nation's capital follow California's lead is successful.
The law went into effect after being passed by D.C.'s city council and signed in December by Mayor Adrian Fenty, and the Democratic-controlled Congress chose not to overturn the law during its 30-day period of review.
Opponents of the law, though, hope to take advantage of a section in the D.C. Charter that allows citizens to gather signatures to place the issue on the ballot -- something that opponents have been trying for months to do, only to be thwarted by the D.C. Board of Elections and by various courts, which upheld the board's stance that such an initiative would "authorize discrimination" against homosexuals.
Hope may seem lost for conservatives, but they were heartened March 2 when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts -- while turning back their long-shot emergency appeal to prevent the law from taking effect -- said in a three-page opinion that their "argument has some force." Opponents of the law, he noted, could appeal again to the Supreme Court once the D.C. Court of Appeals hands down a final decision on the "relevant legal questions."
Source: Baptist Press | Michael Foust
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