The Atlanta City Council has approved a
resolution endorsing the legalization of gay marriage.
The resolution, approved on Monday with
an 11-2 vote, was introduced by openly gay Atlanta City Councilman
Alex Wan.
“For some folks it was a slam dunk,
no-brainer, 'what can I do to help,'” Wan told alternative Creative
Loafing. “Others had questions, understandably, but knew
why this was important to me. … It's been something I've been
wanting to do for a while and it was just a matter of finding the
right time and having the conversations I wanted to have with my
colleagues.”
Publicity “was not the motivation,”
Wan told gay weekly the Georgia
Voice. “This is just the city council taking a position
because it was the right thing to do. It was more important to me to
reach this kind of consensus with the council without outside
pressure.”
Atlanta has previously approved other
symbolic resolutions in support of gay rights, including opposing
Georgia's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and
supporting repeal of the military's policy banning openly gay and
bisexual troops.