Gay couples can marry in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. They also will be able to marry in the next two to five months in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

”To have our legal marriages recognized and defended as a matter of human rights in our nation’s capital sets a new threshold for other jurisdictions,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

”For myself and for the other countless same-sex married couples residing in the District of Columbia, this marks a new day for all of us.”

A proposed voter referendum to repeal the new D.C. law was rejected in court on the grounds that denying legal equality to same-sex couples would violate the district’s Human Rights Act.