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Same-Sex Couples Wed in Washingtion, DC

   Lesbian couple first same-sex pair to be married in U.S. capital under
   DC's new gay marriage law

   VOA News 09 March 2010
   Sinjoyla  Townsend  (L)  and Angelisa Young smile at the crowd as they
   are  married by Rev. David K. North on the first day that gay marriage
   is legal in Washington, DC, 09 Mar 2010

Photo: AP

   Sinjoyla  Townsend  (L)  and Angelisa Young smile at the crowd as they
   are  married by Rev. David K. North on the first day that gay marriage
   is legal in Washington, DC, 09 Mar 2010

   A  lesbian  couple has become the first same-sex pair to be married in
   Washington, D.C. under the district's new gay marriage law.
   Angelisa  Young  and  Sinjoyla  Townsend exchanged vows Tuesday at the
   headquarters  of  the  Human  Rights  Campaign,  a  lobbying group for
   homosexual, bisexual and transgender Americans.
   Young  and  Townsend's  ceremony  was  held nearly one week after they
   became the first same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license.  The
   rules  require  a  waiting  period  of three full business days before
   marriage licenses can be issued.
   The  law  was  approved in December by the city council.  Opponents of
   same-sex  marriage  quickly  filed  a  lawsuit  to  block  it, arguing
   residents should have been able to vote on the issue.
   The lawsuit was rejected by local courts, and U.S. Supreme Court Chief
   Justice John Roberts rejected an appeal last week.
   Roberts  ruled it was the high court's practice to defer to D.C. local
   courts  on  matters of exclusively local concern.  He also pointed out
   that  Congress could have voted to stop the district from enacting the
   law, since it has jurisdiction over the city, but refused to do so.
   Gay  marriage  laws  have  been approved in the states of Connecticut,
   Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.
   

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