Local

D.C. marriage officiant, surrogacy bills advance

Controversial provision would allow couples to marry each other

Published

13 years ago

June 24, 2013

D.C. Council Member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) has expressed concern with a provision in the temporary officiant bill that would allow couples to act as their own officiant. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

LGBT activists watched with interest last week as the D.C. City Council took steps to advance one bill that would allow more people to perform marriage ceremonies and another that would repeal a little-known city law that prohibits surrogacy parenting.

On Tuesday, June 18, the Council’s Committee of the Whole, which includes all Council members, voted to schedule a first-reading vote on June 26 for the Marriage Officiant Amendment Act of 2013.

The bill, among other things, would authorize same-sex and opposite-sex couples applying for a marriage license to designate a friend, parent, sibling or any other adult as a one-time “temporary officiant” empowered to perform the marriage. The current law limits the selection of the person who can perform a marriage ceremony to licensed clergy members, judges and court employees designated as officiants.

Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) wrote the bill and co-introduced it with five colleagues, including gay Council members David Catania (I-At-Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).

In an unexpected development, Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), who is a candidate for mayor, exercised her authority to take the bill off the Council’s consent calendar, which would have enabled the Council to approve the bill on June 26 by unanimous consent without a roll call vote.

Bowser expressed concern about a provision in the bill that would allow couples that obtain a marriage license to act as their own officiant and to perform the marriage ceremony themselves. Bowser’s action prompted Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance President Rick Rosendall and National Capital Area ACLU Legal Director Arthur Spitzer to send email messages to each Council member expressing support for the “self-officiation” provision. The two urged the Council to retain the provision and to oppose a possible amendment introduced by Bowser to take the provision out of the bill.

Bowser told the Blade she supports the bill and expects to vote for it. But she said she took the bill off the consent agenda to enable her to ask some questions about the self-officiation provision.

“That one provision, as you know, was not in the introduced version of the bill,” she said. “And it is a departure from our witnessed and officiated ceremony for marriage in the District. And it’s a very new concept and I wanted to make sure it works…and that it gives due weight to entering into a marriage.”

Bowser said as of early this week she doesn’t plan to introduce an amendment on the Council floor to delete the provision. “Personally I favor that,” she said, referring to marriages performed by a third party officiant. “But I’m willing to listen to what people want.”

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who supports the bill, has suggested adding members of the City Council to the list of people authorized to perform a marriage ceremony. Rosendall and Spitzer said they have no objections to Barry’s suggestion.

In a separate action, the Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee held a public hearing on June 20 on a revised version of the Surrogacy Parenting Agreement Act of 2013, which was introduced earlier this year by Catania. All 12 of Catania’s fellow Council members signed on as co-sponsors of the original bill.

The measure, renamed the Collaborative Reproduction Act of 2013, would make it legal for same-sex or opposite-sex couples — or a single intended parent — to arrange for a woman to carry a fertilized egg to term on behalf of the couple or single person. The revised bill includes language that would make the intended couple or single person the legal parents of the child. Current D.C. law prohibits surrogacy arrangements.

The 15-page draft bill discussed at the hearing includes detailed legal provisions that would help potential surrogates and couples seeking a child work out a complex arrangement to compensate the surrogate for direct and indirect costs associated with a pregnancy and the delivery of a baby in a hospital.

Gay rights attorney Nancy Polikoff, an American University law professor, called on the committee to change the bill to include in all its provisions regulations for both a “gestational” and “traditional” surrogacy. Polikoff noted that the revised bill is mostly limited to addressing gestational surrogacy.

Gestational surrogacy allows the prospective parent or parents to provide a fertilized egg to be implanted in the surrogate. The process for doing this, Polikoff said, involves a medical procedure that could cost more than $100,000, making it difficult or impossible for many prospective parents to afford.

Traditional surrogacy involves the insemination of semen from one of the members of the couple or single person into the surrogate, in which case the surrogate becomes the biological mother of the child.

Polikoff said the draft bill would legalize traditional surrogacy but it lacks the detailed procedural language in the form of a regulation that it includes for gestational surrogacy, which she said is needed to help the “traditional” surrogate and prospective parents work out a legal agreement.

“With no such regulation in place, every time a gay male couple wants to conceive and raise a child, and that couple cannot afford gestational surrogacy, they are on their own, as is the woman who agrees to help them become parents,” Polikoff said in her testimony. “I don’t think the City Council should leave to their own devices that portion of this city’s population.”

Polikoff also called for a new provision in the bill to give a surrogate a short period of time after giving birth to back out of the deal and become the legal parent of and gain custody of the child.

Phillip L. Husband, general counsel for the D.C. Department of Health, who testified on behalf of the administration of Mayor Vincent Gray, said the administration supports the legislation but offered more than two-dozen suggested changes in the bill’s wording that he said would strengthen the measure and improve the city’s ability to implement it.

The Judiciary and Public Safety Committee must next draft a final version of the bill before the measure goes to the full Council for a vote.

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Local

Comings & Goings

Whitman-Walker honors Rep. Sarah McBride

Published

3 days ago

May 8, 2026

Peter Rosenstein

U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].

Congratulations to Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-Del.) on being honored with this year’s Stonewall Award from Whitman-Walker Health. Amy Nelson, senior director of Legal Services, said, “Congresswoman Sarah McBride is working to make healthcare accessible to all, and this award recognizes her support of healthcare as a human right. Our legal program supports families facing unprecedented challenges to stay healthy and safe – families that Congresswoman McBride champions with a deep understanding of the issues they face and the legislative expertise of how to support them.”

McBride, in a press release, said, “I am honored to accept this year’s Stonewall Award from Whitman-Walker Health — an organization that has spent 40 years doing vital work to ensure every person can access the dignity of care. In the wealthiest and most developed nation on earth, the ability to receive care should not be a matter of luck—it should be the law of the land. I am proud to be recognized as a partner in this work and to support Whitman-Walker Health in their mission to build a healthier society for all.”

Congratulations also to Wes Drummond who will join Clear Space Theatre Company in Rehoboth Beach, Del., as its third artistic director. Managing Director Joe Gfaller said, “This is an exciting moment of growth for Clear Space as we welcome Wes to join our remarkable team. I am confident he will be an excellent partner as we work with our entire staff, board, and committed team of volunteers, to ensure Clear Space can achieve its full potential in pursuit of our mission to unite and enrich our community through every production on stage, and every arts-based learning program we offer throughout our community.”

On accepting the position Drummond said, “I’m honored to join Clear Space Theatre Company as artistic director, and beyond excited for what we’re about to create together. Clear Space has established itself as a vital and vibrant part of the cultural life of coastal Delaware, and I feel incredibly fortunate to step into this next chapter alongside such a passionate and dedicated team. Rehoboth Beach is a place defined by creativity and community, and I look forward to listening, learning, and building meaningful relationships across the region in the months ahead. My vision is to help Clear Space continue to grow as a bold, forward-thinking, cultural force, that champions fearless storytelling.”

Drummond served in leadership roles at Duluth Playhouse in Duluth, Minn., from 2021 to 2026, including four years as executive director followed by one year as executive producing artistic director, guiding the organization through a period of significant transformation and stability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a director, he has worked extensively in New York City, Chicago, and at regional theaters across the country, directing both musical theater and plays with a focus on storytelling that bridges classical works with contemporary perspectives. He has collaborated with leading figures in the industry, including Tony Award-winning director Matthew Warchus, and Tony-nominated director Michael Greif. He is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Wes earned his MFA in directing, Penn State University, where he studied under Tony-nominated director, Susan H. Schulman.

Virginia

Va. Supreme Court invalidates Democrat-backed redistricting plan

Voters narrowly approved new congressional districts last month

Published

3 days ago

May 8, 2026

Staff reports

Virginia Supreme Court (Photo by sainaniritu/Bigstock)

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Democrat-backed redistricting plan that voters approved last month.

Ten of 11 of Virginia’s congressional districts favor Democrats in the plan that passed by a 51-48 vote margin in last month’s referendum.

The Human Rights Campaign PAC is among the groups that support it. The court by a 4-3 majority invalidated the referendum results.

District of Columbia

Maren Morris to headline Capital Pride Concert

Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter came out as bisexual in 2024

Published

3 days ago

May 8, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Maren Morris (Photo by Debby Wong/Bigstock)

Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced on May 7 that nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Maren Morris, who identifies as bisexual, will be the headline performer at this year’s Capital Pride Concert scheduled for June 21.

The concert takes place as part of the annual Capital Pride Festival held on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., usually between 3rd Street near the U.S. Capitol and 9th Street.

“Morris, known for her genre-blending sound and outspoken support of LGBTQ+ rights, will be joined by a standout lineup, including acclaimed queer rapper Leikeli47, pop icon Lisa Lisa, Juno-nominated producer and DJ from the ‘Heated Rivalry’ soundtrack, Harrison, and ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18 winner Myki Meeks,” according to a statement released by Capital Pride.

“In a moment when LGBTQ+ people are being challenged across the country, the Capital Pride Concert is a space where our community is fully seen and heard,” Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance CEO and president, said in the statement. “Bringing Maren Morris to the stage reflects this year’s theme: Exist, Resist, Have the Audacity,” Bos said.

The statement notes that the concert takes place as part of the annual D.C. Pride Festival, which is open to the public free of charge, with tickets available for purchase for specific areas listed as the Capital Stage Pit Zone and the VIP Concert Zone.

It says the festival takes place from 12 –10 p.m. and points out that in addition to the music performed by multiple other performers on several stages, festival attendees “can explore hundreds of exhibitors, community organizations, and artisans, along with multiple food courts and beverage gardens throughout the festival footprint.”

Information on the Capital Pride Alliance website shows that the festival takes place one day after the annual Capital Pride Parade, scheduled for June 20 and which is expected to travel from 14th and T Streets, N.W., to Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., where it is expected to end at 9th Street.

The statement adds that following the stage performances during the June 21 festival, which are expected to conclude around 8 p.m., “the celebration will continue with the Capitol Sunset Dance Party, closing out the evening against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol.”

The online publication Today, which is part of the NBC “Today” television show, reported that Morris came out as bisexual in a 2024 during Pride. It reports Morris “shared several images of herself holding a Pride flag to mark the occasion, writing, ‘Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+’”