Marriage equality realized in the District of Columbia; Roberts won't help fundamentalists

This afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order announcing that the United States Supreme Court will not interfere with the enforcement of the District Columbia's Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act.

This means that - as of tomorrow - gay and lesbian couples can apply for marriage licenses. The first licenses will be officially recognized as of next week.

Gay and lesbian couples who apply will soon gain all of the legal rights and responsibilities that our nation's capital city can bestow.

The Supreme Court's action makes Washington, D.C. the sixth jurisdiction within the United States where marriage equality is the law of the land.

Five other states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Iowa) currently allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. New York, Rhode Island, and Maryland, however, recognize same sex marriages performed in other states.

A group of fundamentalists in our nation's capital is attempting to force a public vote on the Act, hoping that voters would overturn the decision of the City Council.

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics previously found an initiative that proposed outlawing marriage equality to be unacceptable because it "authorizes discrimination prohibited under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act." The fundamentalists have appealed this decision to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which has yet to rule on the matter; Roberts' order allows that process to continue, whilst also allowing the District's Act to take effect.