DC Mayor Fenty Signs Marriage Equality Bill

Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty signed a bill legalizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples today.

Fenty signed in front of 150 activists and same-sex couples -- many of whom say they plan to marry -- in the sanctuary of All Souls Unitarian in Mount Pleasant.

"We knew this day would come," Fenty said. "I say to the world: An era of struggle ends for thousands in Washington, D.C. . . . Our city is taking a leap forward."

Before he signed the bill, Fenty spoke of his interracial upbringing, noting it was illegal for his parents to get married 40 years ago.

"This is one of the churches my parents would have brought me to when I was a boy," he said as his parents sat among advocates in a second pew.

The bill still needs to survive inaction by Congress over 30 legislative days and a federal suit by the odious National Organization for Marriage to force a public referendum to strip away newly-granted marriage rights for LGBT people (it is expressly prohibited by the DC Charter at the moment to have any public vote on a measure which would strip away a right from a minority).