On May 4, 2009, however, just as the Maine legislature was approving marriage equality, the Washington, D. C. City Council overwhelmingly approved a bill that recognizes same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions where they are legal.

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The bill was described by openly gay Council member David Catania as "the culmination of a long journey as we attempt to be true to our motto--'Justice for All.'"

Under the legislation, same-sex couples who live in the District and who have been married in other jurisdictions are granted such legal rights as joint filing of city tax returns and all private health care and pension benefits that are afforded heterosexual couples.

Catania regarded the bill as a precursor to full marriage equality. That goal advanced in December 2009, when the Council passed a bill on December 15 legalizing same-sex marriage, which was signed into law by Mayor Adrian Fenty on December 18.

Like all D.C. legislation, the law was subject to review by Congress, which had the power to invalidate it within 30 working days. Despite the attempts of some Republican Congressmen to invalidate the law, the Democratic-controlled Congress refused to intervene.

Opponents of same-sex marriage also sued in federal court, alleging that the law should be subject to a referendum. Finally, on March 2, 2010, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts announced the Court's refusal to issue a stay of the legislation. Somewhat ominously, he pointed out that the law might be subject to repeal via the District's initiative process, though that question would have to work its way through the appellate process before reaching the Supreme Court.

On March 3, 2010, the District began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In July 2010, the D. C. Court of Appeals rejected, on a 5-4 vote, an appeal by the opponents of same-sex marriage who wanted to force a referendum on the issue. On January 17, 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it had declined to hear an appeal of the D. C. Court of Appeals' decision.

Nevada Domestic Partnerships

On October 1, 2009, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples in Nevada were offered the option of domestic partnerships, which offer most of the rights and responsibilities of marriage in areas such as estate planning, medical decisions, community property, and child care.

The legislature had passed the law by comfortable, but not veto-proof margins, only to see the embattled Republican governor, Jim Gibbons, a Mormon, veto the measure, saying that the rights conferred by the legislation could be attained through contracts.

After much lobbying by Nevada's powerful gaming and tourism industry, which feared the possibility of a gay boycott of the state, both houses of the legislature voted during the final days of May 2009 to override the gubernatorial veto.