The District of Columbia will become the latest region of the country to legalize same-sex marriage when they begin to grant licenses on Thursday. Today, the Supreme Court, in a three-page ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts, declined to intervene in the legislative action that passed the DC City Council earlier this year. Petitioners sought a public referendum on same-sex marriage before the law went into effect, but Roberts refused to stay the enactment of the law.

The D. C. Charter specifies that legislation enacted by the D. C. Council may be blocked if a sufficient number of voters request a referendum on the issue. D. C. Code §1–204.102. The Council, however, purported in 1979 to exempt from this provision any referendum that would violate the D. C. Human Rights Act. See §§1–1001.16(b)(1)(C), 2–1402.73 (2001–2007). The D. C. Board of Elections, D. C. Superior Court, and D. C. Court of Appeals denied petitioners’ request for a referendum on the grounds that the referendum would violate the Human Rights Act.

Without addressing the merits of petitioners’ underlying claim, however, I conclude that a stay is not warranted. First, as “a matter of judicial policy”—if not “judicial power”—“it has been the practice of the Court to defer to the decisions of the courts of the District of Columbia on matters of exclusively local concern.” Whalen v. United States, 445 U. S. 684, 687 (1980); see also Fisher v. United States, 328 U. S. 463, 476 (1946).

Roberts added that the Congress, which could block the DC City Council’s action through a resolution of disapproval, did not do so in the 30-day window, and that the petitioners can pursue a ballot initiative after the same-sex marriage ordinance becomes law.

Five states currently allow same-sex marriage: Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. In addition, three states – New York, Rhode Island, and Maryland – recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. And in California, the approximately 18,000 same-sex couples who married when it was legal between May and November 2008 are still legally married.

UPDATE: In a show of that good Christian ethos of healing the sick, DC Catholic Charities dropped all their health coverage for spouses to avoid being forced to provide coverage to gay partners.