Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty appeared in church today to sign the District’s new marriage equality bill into law. From the Washington Post:

Fenty signed in front of 150 activists and same-sex couples — many of whom say they plan to marry — in the sanctuary of All Souls Unitarian in Mount Pleasant.

“We knew this day would come,” Fenty said. “I say to the world: An era of struggle ends for thousands in Washington, D.C. . . . Our city is taking a leap forward.”

Before he signed the bill, Fenty spoke of his interracial upbringing, noting it was illegal for his parents to get married 40 years ago.

“This is one of the churches my parents would have brought me to when I was a boy,” he said as his parents sat among advocates in a second pew. “Things have a way of coming full circle. When you’re mayor.”

It is widely expected that the law will pass a congressional review, despite the best efforts of  Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz, who pledges to block the bill.

Video from the signing below:

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.

Washington DC residents awoke this morning to the sight of a giant AIDS ribbon hanging from the North Portico of the White House in observance of World AIDS Day. Established in 1988, the event occurs every December 1st to focus attention and raise awareness of the global AIDS epidemic.  While loathe to give the previous administration props for anything, the practice of hanging the ribbon actually began under former President George Bush in 2007.

Last Wednesday the White House issued a presidential Proclamation marking World AIDS Day, and held a press conference yesterday observing the event.

At least we finally have it in writing…

A group of religious leaders representing various denominations released a 4,700 word manifesto today called the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, which formally declares their opposition to gay marriage and abortion, among other things.. The document also encourages Christians to resist and disobey laws contrary to their teachings on those issues.

“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.

The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The document is the usual treasure trove of hate, one of the choicer passages below…

It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law—such persons claiming these “rights” are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.

The signatories for the document is a who’s who of the anti-gay religious establishment, including James Dobson, Maggie Gallagher, Bishop Harry Jackson, Bill Donohue and  Tony Perkins.

Charles Colson, one of the authors of the declaration, pimps the document with some of the usual fear mongering in the clip below…

You can view the document in its entirety here (warning, the link may be a bit slow).