In the nation's capital, the D.C. attorney general issued an advisory opinion saying same-sex couples married in Massachusetts can file a joint D.C. tax return. Unfortunately, as the Washington Blade reports, Sen Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a staunch opponent of gay marriage, chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the District, which must approve the D.C. budget and which has the power to attach anti-gay amendments to D.C. appropriations bills.
Some local activists are urging D.C. to pursue marriage recognition nonetheless (as one puts it, "If Brownback is going to do something bad, then we should come back and do something stronger. At some point D.C. residents have to stand up for their rights"). But the local Gay & Lesbian Activist Alliance - whose leadership includes IGF contributing author Rick Rosendall - is urging Mayor Anthony Williams to resist releasing an opinion stating whether D.C. has legal authority to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
As I've argued before, spousal rights are best achieved by working in the various states through popularly elected representatives (see, for example, Dale Carpenter's latest, Winning the Right Way in Connecticut).
But in the case of D.C., which is only a "semi-democracy," I don't much see the point in poking the congressional lion and risking the rollback of gains that have already been made. Right now, this battle is better fought in the states.
Update: Rick Rosendall has more on D.C.
developments, in the comments zone.
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