CONGRESS WEIGHS D.C. DOMA: From the Washington Blade
 
A Republican congresswoman from Virginia introduced a bill on July 7 that would prohibit the District of Columbia from legalizing same-sex marriage or recognizing such marriages from other states. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, whose district includes the cities of Fredericksburg and Williamsburg, dropped her bill into the legislative hopper without any co-sponsors and without releasing a statement elaborating on her reasons for introducing the legislation.
 
Davis' bill, H.R. 4773, is just one sentence long. It states, "In the District of Columbia, for all legal purposes, 'marriage' means the union of one man and one woman." ...
 
District Mayor Anthony Williams and a majority of the members of the D.C. Council have said they strongly oppose such laws, saying they favor, in principle, the legalization of same-sex marriage.
 
Norton said she would enlist the help of House Democratic leaders to oppose Davis' bill.
 
Norton and other Capitol Hill observers said the lack of co-sponsors and the apparent decision not to draw immediate attention to her bill suggests that Davis may be seeking to lay the groundwork for attaching the measure in the form of an amendment to the D.C. appropriations bill.
 
The influential House Appropriations Committee was scheduled to mark up the city's fiscal year 2005 appropriations measure this week. ...
 
The bill to ban gay marriage in the District comes as D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams still holds back a legal opinion by the city's chief attorney on whether D.C. laws permit the city to recognize same-sex marriages issued in Massachusetts or other states. Sources close to the city government have said the opinion by D.C. Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti, who is gay, holds that same-sex marriages from others states could be legally recognized in the District. ...
 
The Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, a small D.C. group of veteran activists, has cautioned Williams against releasing the opinion and against recognizing same-sex marriages from Massachusetts for the foreseeable future, fearing congressional intervention to bar gay marriage in D.C.
 
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