Man–Woman Marriage in the District of Columbia: The Debate Is Not Over

Chuck Donovan / January 20, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that has had the effect of blocking an initiative or referendum vote on same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.

The high court’s action brings to an end this judicial phase of the effort to rescind a same-sex marriage law enacted by the D.C. city council in 2009. The law took effect in March 2010 and has never been enjoined by a court of law. As a result, same-sex marriages have been taking place in D.C. for nearly a year.

The basic issue in the case was the scope of the D.C. government’s authority to shield certain enactments from the city’s initiative and referendum process. That process was created under amendments Congress approved to the city’s Home Rule Charter in 1978 that authorized the city council to hold initiatives, referenda, and recall votes by the city’s voters, and it excluded only one type of legislation from being subject to these votes—measures that would appropriate funds from the public treasury. Nonetheless, in 1979, the city council passed a bill that excluded measures that would affect the city’s nondiscrimination laws from public votes. (more…)