On Tuesday, DC City Council Member David Catania (I-At Large) introduced a bill, cosponsored by 9 of his 12 fellow members of the Council, that would allow same-sex couples to wed within the District. Earlier this year, Council Member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) successfully shepherded into law a requirement that DC recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions; the new proposal currently before the Council would permit any couples (residents or otherwise) to have their nuptials in the nation's capital.

The bill, formally titled "The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009," will first be considered in the Council's Judiciary committee, chaired by Mendelson. A hearing on the bill is scheduled for Monday, October 26, at 3:30pm in the 5th floor Council chambers of the Wilson Building (located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.).