Marriage Equality in DC, kinda

At 12:01 AM this morning the District of Columbia, our nation's capitol city, began recognizing gay marriages which were legally performed in other jurisdictions. These jurisdictions include: the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa; in the next several months it will add Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont as their laws take effect; the marriages performed legally in California, while it was legal there, will also be recognized; as well as the countries of Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Norway, and will soon be performed in Nepal. This means that the District of Columbia joins the state of New York, and the countries of Israel, Aruba (Dutch), and Netherlands Antilles (Dutch) in recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere, while not offering them in their own jurisdictions. This is a wonderful day for civil rights in America and the world. Gay families, which already exist, are now afforded the rights of Heterosexual families. Our children are now safe and secure. Our sick partners can now be visited in the hospital. We have gained inheritance rights if our partners pass. Our access to healthcare as a married couple is now the same as that of Heterosexuals. There are several hundred other civil rights that marriage recognition makes available to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender residents of the District of Columbia.

This is, of course, only one step in the right direction, but there is hope as the DC city council is expected to introduce a bill to allow gay marriages to be performed in the District in the fall. After that is done the next great battleground for residents of DC will be Federal recognition of marriage. We must end the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defends nothing but segregation and hatred. It is sad that our country has set up a double standard in the recognition of marriage that really sets up a second class citizenship for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans. But, let us celebrate this great victory today!

Mazel Tov,

Matthew