A District of Columbia appeals court Friday unanimously rejected the latest attempt to block the city from legalizing same-sex marriages next month.
In the judges’ one-page opinion in the case, the appeals court refused to overturn a Superior Court judge’s decision not to postpone the District’s same-sex marriage from going into effect.
The court ruled that the appellants, led by Maryland pastor Harry R. Jackson, failed establish how they would suffer irreparable harm if the law were to take effect as scheduled.
Which means, barring some unlikely congressional intervention, D.C. gay couples can begin applying for marriage licenses as early as Wednesday, March 3.
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Pursuant to District law, they’ll have to wait three business days to actually do the deed, so expect to see the first gay unions in D.C. officiated on Tuesday, March 9.
If the bill becomes law, the District will join Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire in performing same-sex marriages.
For D.C. residents planning to wed, here’s what you need to know >
