The Mayor Responds

The Mayor's office responded to my question about releasing the Spagnoletti memo (written by a former DC city attorney on whether DC can legally recognize same sex unions performed elsewhere. The memo is rumored to say that DC can. The previous mayor kept it private. The current mayor during his campaign vowed to immediately release it, then appeared to back off that promise after the election. I asked the Mayor's gay outreach liaison to clarify. Here's his response:

Scott,

Thanks for your question about whether or not the Mayor plans on releasing the Spagnoletti memo. The administration is currently reviewing the memo and still plans on releasing it. I just don’t know when.

Christopher J. Dyer
Interim Director, Office of LGBT Affairs

Translation: The memo says DC can legally recognize SS couples married where it's legal and we don't have a clue yet on how to handle it.

Kudos, though, for Dyer reaffirming the Mayor's promise. That's further than his spokesperson went in responding to the Washington Blade.

The last Administration kowtowed to the DC Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance's (GLAA) advice to roll over and not provoke the Republican-controlled Congress over same sex marriage in DC. Now that the Congress is in the hands of the Dems, and the current DC Mayor and a majority of the DC City Council seems to be for equal marriage rights, let's hope the Fenty Admin won't take a similar posture.

At the very least, let's hope the Fenty Administration is listening to a broader array of voices within the DC community as it grapples with the issue of marriage rights. The GLAA doesn't speak for all of us.