Local LGBT activists and District government insiders told the Washington Blade that same-sex marriages in the District may be approved by the D.C. Council as soon as next April.

The likelihood of this approval hinges on a couple of results this Election Day. First is the defeat of Proposition 8, an initiative that seeks to reverse the legalization of same-sex marriages in California. The state’s Supreme Court struck down the ban on same-sex marriage on May 15 on the grounds that it was a violation of same-sex couples’ civil rights.

The second is the expansion of the Democratic Party’s majority in Congress. Even though the vast majority of the D.C. Council’s members are committed to passing a same-sex marriage bill, there’s still that pesky Congressional oversight to consider. A bigger Democratic majority would increase the bill’s chances of survival. An anonymous D.C. government source told the Blade, “We are reasonably confident that enough fair-minded Democrats will win election to the House and Senate in November to give us the votes we need to block an attempt to overturn a marriage bill.”

Sources close to the D.C. Council told the Blade that openly gay council members Jim Graham and David Catania may introduce a same-sex marriage bill in January, with about half of the remaining council members ready to sign on as co-sponsors. Neither Graham nor Catania have publicly said when they plan to introduce the bill, however.

In early May, the D.C. Council passed a significant expansion of the city’s domestic partnership laws, creating de facto civil unions. Just before Pride weekend, Mayor Adrian Fenty ordered a review of the city’s legal options regarding same-sex couples from D.C. who opted to marry in California.