The D.C. Council has passed a gay marriage recognition bill. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has signed it. The Board of Elections and Ethics has rejected a referendum effort aimed at overturning it. A Superior Court judge has upheld that decision.
So, barring intervention from the D.C. Court of Appeals—and, according to a court spokesperson, no appeal [...]

Judge Judith Retchin has ruled [PDF] that a referendum on recognizing out-of-state gay marriages may not proceed.
Retchin was widely expected to ignore the substance of the referendum proponents' argument—i.e., that the District's human rights law does not, in fact, prevent the measure from appearing on the ballot, as the Board of Elections and Ethics ruled [...]

Gay-marriage referendum backers have asked a Superior Court judge this morning to order the city elections board to allow a ballot measure.
The move comes two days after the Board of Elections and Ethics ruled that such a referendum, to overturn a recently passed District law recognizing out-of-state gay marriages, would violate the D.C. Human Right [...]

The Board of Elections and Ethics has ruled that a referendum on recognizing gay marriages is not allowed.
Reads the order [PDF], signed by both board chair Errol Arthur and member Charles Lowery Jr.:
[I]t is clear that the Referendum’s Proposers would, in contravention of the [Human Rights Act], strip same-sex couples of the rights and responsibilities [...]

Another update from Kenneth McGhie, general counsel for the Board of Elections and Ethics: "Still think it's going to be today," he says.
LL and the rest of the city are awaiting the board's decision whether to allow a referendum on recognizing other jurisdictions' same-sex marriages in the District.
The holdup? "Still debating some language," he says.
UPDATE, [...]

The next local election day might be some 15 months off, but Saturday's Capital Pride parade still had a political charge—mostly due to the recent heat on gay marriage, but also thanks to a mayoral campaign kicking into full gear and possible council challenger in the mix.
LL was there with camera. Behold!

LL just got off the phone with Kenneth McGhie, general counsel for the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.
Those of you expecting a late-Friday announcement on whether or not a referendum will be allowed on the District law recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages: Don't hold your breath.
"Doesn't look like it's going to be today," McGhie says.

Bishop Harry Jackson, leading opponent of gay marriage in the District, entered the No-Spin Zone this evening.
Jackson was featured in a five-minute segment midway through the O'Reilly Factor, as proof, according to host Bill O'Reilly, of "the staggering hypocrisy of the left and media that enables the far left to do these things."
Some backstory: On [...]

Attorney General Peter Nickles has concluded that a recently passed District law recognizing out-of-state gay marriages should not be subject to a referendum.
That, of course, isn't the final word on the matter by any means—the Board of Elections and Ethics is now in the process of deciding whether or not to allow the referendum. But [...]

The question before the Board of Elections and Ethics today is whether the law passed last month by the D.C. Council recognizing same-sex marriages performed out of state is the proper subject of a referendum. To wit, the main question is whether the bill is covered under the city's longstanding human-rights law, under which sexual [...]

Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. has been walking a mighty fine line the past couple of weeks.
When you're representing a ward that contains both quickly gentrifying (and gayifying) areas like Bloomingdale, Eckington, and Brookland, in addition to the generally conservative Bungalow Belt and many of the city's most politically active churches, same-sex marriage would [...]

Marion Barry expounded for reporters on gay marriage after today's council meeting. He minced no words on the potential reception to these developments in his ward.
"All hell's gonna break loose," he says. "We may have a civil war. The black community is so adamant against this."
He also explained that his failure to take the marriage [...]

My AOL mail homepage today features hater-for-hire Miss California and a teaser about "Leaked Photos," so of course I read.
Turns out some mildly tawdry shots of Carrie Prejean from her modeling career have hit the web. Nothing with animals or appliances yet, though the photos reveal her blonde hair's fake, too. (Messing with God's work [...]

Immediately after the D.C. Council's 12-1 vote to recognize same-sex marriage in other states, a small group of ministers and church congregants raised a ruckus in the hallway outside the fifth-floor council chamber at the John A. Wilson Building.
Perhaps the most livid was a well-dressed gentleman who identified himself as Paul Trantham, a member of [...]

Completely without ceremony or debate, the D.C. Council has just made its final vote to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Actually, the council did not vote specifically on the legislation, but rather voted it through as part of the "consent agenda"—a package of typically uncontroversial bills passed together without objection.
Any member can take [...]