Gay marriage is now legal in Washington D.C., as long as you get hitched some place else.

With gay marriage legal in six US states, the District of Columbia now recognises same-sex marriages performed in those states, and other countries. The law recognising those marriages was passed in May, but required a 30 day ‘waiting period’ before it could be made official. If Congress, which has the final say on all laws passed in the district, challenged the law, then it would not pass. But the 30 days are up and the city is celebrating.

“I certainly believe that the fact that we got here is a great victory, that we survived the congressional layover period,” D.C. Council member David Catania, told Associated Press, also adding that next in the council’s sights would be performing gay marriage in the district. Members of the council are preparing the framework for a gay marriage law to put to council around September.

Unfortunately, other members of the community are proving tough opposition. Bishop Harry Jackson formed the group Stand 4 Marriage D.C. Coalition shortly after the recent law passed 12 to 1 in the council, and proposed a referendum to overturn any pro-marriage reforms.

During a public debate on the issue, another religious minister from D.C., Leroy Swailes, said that discrimination against homosexuality was ‘positive’. “Me as a black man, when they discriminated against me, I came out of my mother’s womb, like I didn’t have a choice, that was a negative discrimination. If you discriminate against a homosexual, that’s a positive,” reported On Top magazine in the US.

The proposed referendum, similar to Proposition 8 that overturned gay marriage in California, was turned down by Superior Court Judge Judith Retchin. Defeated in not wanting to recognise unions performed in other states, Reverend Jackson told the Washington Blade he will continue to oppose the proposal to perform gay marriages in the district.

Jackson also told the Washington Times that “the D.C. residents have been disenfranchised and unable to vote on an important public policy matter, because political elites would rather serve a radical agenda than the people they represent.” Although, in her ruling Judge Retchin said the “legislation [was] enacted by our duly-elected [city] council.”

“Washington, D.C., is symbolically a really important place for a marriage-equality win,” Molly McKay of Marriage Equality USA, told The Christian Science Monitor. “I think that it is really important that that happens around the social environment where are elected officials are located.”