Officials from Imperial County  California filed an emergency motion yesterday to join with ProtectMarriage.com to defend Proposition 8 in the upcoming court case led by Ted Olson and David Boies. Located at the southeastern tip of the state, the largely conservative county supported Proposition 8 by an overwhelming 69 percent of the vote in 2008. From SFGate:

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of an emergency motion Tuesday to intervene in the case. Supervisors say the county’s participation is needed because Attorney General Jerry Brown supports overturning the voter-approved measure, while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken a neutral position on it.

The board approved the motion by a 3-2 margin.

Imperial County also voted for the Briggs Initiative back in 1978 by the same margin, 69 percent. The measure which would have barred gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools, ultimately went down to defeat thanks to gay rights pioneer and icon Harvey Milk.

It’s interesting that the supervisors felt it necessary to file an “emergency” motion to intervene in the case. Did they also take similar dramatic action when they found out Imperial County has the second highest teen pregnancy rate in the state?

The more things change… the more they stay the same.

By a vote of 11-2, the Washington DC Council has passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, which would make gay marriage legal in our nation’s capital. From the NBC Washington affiliate:

The bill sponsored by openly gay Councilman David Catania had been expected to pass easily. Ten of the 13 council members supported its introduction. Only Councilman Marion Barry, Ward 8, and Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, Ward 7, voted against it Tuesday. Both have said their vote reflects the wishes of their constituents. Catania expressed regret that these colleagues would not be voting with him but noted their support of GLBT issues in the past.

Even with the dissent of Alexander and Barry, Tuesday’s vote was a very cheerful, cordial event, with council members thanking and congratulating each other and patting each other on the back, many expressing pride for being part of this historic vote. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, the first on the roll call, playfully voted “I do,” as did Councilman Jim Graham. Later, Barry voted “I don’t.”

In anticipation of the bill’s passage, marriage equality opponents  vowed to fight the measure.

“The city council’s action today is not the final word. The issue is far from over,” Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, said in a statement Monday.

Jackson has aligned with Robert King, a longtime Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in Northeast, the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former civil rights leader who was a longtime pastor at New Bethel Baptist Church, and several other religious leaders to try to force a referendum to outlaw same-sex marriage.

Mayor Fenty is expected to sign the bill before Christmas, which will go into effect Spring of 2010, provided Congress does not intervene during a congressional review period.

Former president Bill Clinton once described his position on gay marriage as evolving. Fast forward just over a month later, as reported in the Nation:

After speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, DC, on July 8, the former president was asked if he supported same-sex marriage. Clinton, in a departure from past statements, replied in the affirmative.

Clinton opposed same-sex marriage during his presidency, and in 1996, he signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which limited federal recognition of marriage to one man and one woman. In May of this year, Clinton told a crowd at Toronto’s Convention Centre that his position on same-sex marriage was “evolving.”

Apparently, Clinton’s thinking has now further evolved. Asked if he would commit his support for same-sex marriage, Clinton responded, “I’m basically in support.”

Bill Clinton joins a number of other prominent Democrats supporting gay marriage, including former vice-president Al Gore, former governor Howard Dean, New York Senator Charles E. Schumer, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd.

Missing from the list is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has previously only affirmed her support for civil unions. Hopefully her position is evolving as well.

Pastor Bill Devlin, president of Redeem the Vote, a non-profit that engages youth through faith, presented the same tired and alarmist arguments against a new gay marriage bill in a “trainwreck” of an appearance on Good Morning Philadelphia yesterday. State Sen. Daylin Leach who introduced the lesislation, was on hand to defend the bill with sound, unlike Pastor Devlin. Watch: