DC Lines Up for Marriage Licenses

At 8:30 a.m. the doors to Washington, D.C.'s superior court swung open and the first 10 same-sex couples were welcomed in to apply for marriage licenses. They will be allowed to get married March 9.

"I wish the entire world could feel the joy that I feel right now," said Angelisa Young, a 47-year-old D.C. resident upon successfully completing her application for the very first license issued to a same-sex couple in the district. Her partner of 12 years, Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, clutched two single pink roses in her hand, tears rimming her eyes.

By 9:30 a.m. about 65 couples had jumped through enough bureaucratic hoops to receive their licenses. Some LGBT advocates thought they might clear more than 100 by the end of the day.

Since the U.S. Congress has oversight over all laws passed by the D.C. city council, the licensing commenced after a 30-day congressional review period that saw surprisingly little opposition to the law.

GOP representative Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced a bill to define marriage for all legal purposes in the district to consist of the union of one man and one woman, and it garnered just 63 cosponsors.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah put forward a joint resolution of approval but got only one cosponsor -- Representative Jordan.

One Democratic aide who works for the House subcommittee on Federal Work Force, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, the committee of jurisdiction for the bills, was surprised the measures didn't rack up more support.

"I didn't anticipate getting more bills, but I had anticipate that the bills would have generated more cosponsors, which is the pressure point," said William Miles, staff director of the subcommittee, which is chaired by Rep. Stephen Lynch.

Miles said bills in the House typically have to get cosponsors into the hundreds before anybody really begins to pay attention to them.

The only recourse left for impeding same-sex marriages in the district now lies in the appropriations process by choking off funding for the law. It's a tactic that has been wielded historically by members to block progressive legislation passed by the D.C. city council, such as measures creating needle-exchange programs, legalizing medical marijuana, and offering domestic-partner benefits to city employees.

"I still think there will be an attempt somehow to roll back marriage equality in D.C.," said Michael Crawford, former cochair of DC for Marriage and now director of new media at Freedom to Marry. "We're in an election year, Republicans are trying really hard to gain seats, and they are not above using residents in the district as a political football."

The appropriations process usually plays out in early summer, though the congressional schedule has been a bit of a roller coaster already this year.

But Brian Moulton, chief legal counsel at the Human Rights Campaign, was slightly more optimistic that the district's same-sex marriage law would emerge unscathed.

"Obviously, there's a long and storied history of putting social riders on D.C. appropriations bills. I think it's something we need to be vigilant about, but I think it's unlikely that a rider moves forward," said Moulton.

Moulton noted that the Democratic majority has been very protective of home rule for D.C. and also particularly effective at undoing social riders in years past. For instance, the riders for both the medical marijuana bill and the needle-exchange program were expunged last year.

Crawford agreed that the chances for moving a rider forward have narrowed in recent years.

"The shift of the strong Democratic majority makes getting something that blocks home rule difficult to get through," he said.