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Washington, D.C., has recognized domestic partnerships since June 11, 1992. However, Congress forbid the spending of local funds to implement the law under fiscal year 2002. ^[1] Domestic partnership in the District is open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. All couples registered as domestic partners are entitled to the same rights as family members to visit their domestic partners in the hospital and to make decisions concerning the treatment of a domestic partner’s remains after the partner’s death.

The measure also grants District of Columbia government employees rights to a number of benefits. Domestic partners are eligible for health care insurance coverage, can use annual leave or unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a dependent child or to care for a domestic partner or a partner's dependents, and can make funeral arrangements for a deceased partner.

By April 2006, 587 couples had registered.^[2]

The Domestic Partnership Equality Amendment Act of 2006, D.C. Law 16-79, came into effect on April 4, 2006. This act provides that in almost all cases a domestic partner will have the same rights as a spouse regarding inheritance, probate, guardianship, and certain other rights traditionally accorded to spouses. However, it does not extend most benefits of legal marriage to domestic partners, such as the marital estate tax deduction. ^[1] British law does not recognize District of Columbia domestic partnerships as equivalent to civil partnerships in the United Kingdom.

1. ^ ^{a b} Domestic Partnership. DC Department of Health, Vital Records Division. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
2. ^ "Registration for Domestic Partnership", Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples. Retrieved on 2007-07-30. 

• DC Department of Health
• Vital Records Division, Domestic Partnership Information
• "District of Columbia Marriage/Relationship Recognition Law," Human Rights Campaign
• "Rights and Responsibilities of Domestic Partners in the District of Columbia," Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, DC, revised April 3, 2006
• "Registration for Domestic Partnership," Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples

Same-sex marriage in the United States This box: view • talk • edit

Marriage Legalized: Massachusetts Civil unions enacted: Connecticut - New Hampshire (as of 1/1/08) - New Jersey - Vermont  Domestic partnerships enacted: California - District of Columbia - Hawaii - Maine - Oregon (as of 1/1/08) - Washington Prohibited by statute: Arizona - Connecticut - Delaware - Florida - Illinois - Indiana - Iowa - Maryland - Minnesota - New Hampshire - New York - North Carolina - Pennsylvania - Puerto Rico - Washington - West Virginia - Wyoming Prohibited by constitutional amendment: Alabama - Alaska - Arkansas - Colorado - Georgia - Hawaii - Idaho - Kansas - Kentucky - Louisiana - Michigan - Mississippi - Missouri - Montana - Nebraska - Nevada - North Dakota - Ohio - Oklahoma - Oregon - South Carolina - South Dakota - Tennessee - Texas - Utah - Virginia - Wisconsin Marriage or Civil Union Law proposed: California - Connecticut - Illinois - Maine - New Jersey - New York - Rhode Island - Vermont - Washington Marriage undefined: New Mexico - Rhode Island

• Same-sex marriage in the United States
• Same-sex marriage legislation in the United States
• Same-sex marriage in the United States by state
• Same-sex marriage in the United States public opinion
• Same-sex marriage status in the United States by state
• List of benefits of marriage in the United States
• Defense of Marriage Act
• Marriage Protection Act
• Defense of marriage amendment
• Federal Marriage Amendment
• Domestic partnerships in the United States
• Freedom to Marry Coalition
• History of civil marriage in the U.S.

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