DC Council Votes in Favor of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

The Washington DC Council voted on Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage in the district, reports the Advocate.

The vote was in favor, 11-2. Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) were against it. Barry was perhaps the only vote in question today. While in the past the Council member has promised to support same-sex marriage, earlier this year Barry flip-flopped on the issue and voted against recognizing gay marriages that are performed legally in other states.

This is the first of two votes on gay marriage in D.C. The legislation still needs to pass a second vote in the Council in the next month, at which point it will be sent to D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty for his signature.

Fenty has previously pledged to sign the bill, after which Congress will have 30 legislative days in which it can intervene before the bill becomes law.

During a brief debate period before the vote, David Catania (I-At large), the bill's champion, said that when he first joined the Council in 1997, he never imagined that he would see the day when the body would take up such legislation.