The attorney general for the District said that gay couples married last year in Massachusetts may file joint tax returns in the District but that the city's Office of Tax and Revenue "reserves the authority" to reject their filings.
The unexpected move by Attorney General Robert J. Spagnoletti places new pressure on Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) to decide whether gay unions will be recognized in the nation's capital, potentially injecting it into the battle over gay marriage that roiled the 2004 presidential election and prompted an unsuccessful push in Congress for a constitutional amendment banning the practice.
Under federal law, married same-sex couples cannot file joint federal income tax returns because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Most states also have laws that prohibit legal recognition of gay unions.
The D.C. Court of Appeals ruled in 1995 that gay marriages cannot be performed in the District, but no court has ruled on whether marriages performed in other states would be valid in the District, leaving unanswered a host of questions about the legal status of the couples. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2461-2005Apr19.htmlConsidering the choke-chain that Congress holds over the District, this is gonna get reaaaal interesting.
But to AG Spagnoletti:
:yourock:
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