WASHINGTON (AP) — Same-sex marriages in the nation’s capital will come one step closer when Washington’s mayor signs the bill at a public ceremony.

The city council approved the measure this week legalizing gay marriage. It still has to go for review to Congress, which has the final say over D.C.’s laws. The district’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, has said she expects no opposition there.

A spokesman for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty says he will sign the bill in a public ceremony Friday morning.

Supporters expect gay couples may be able to wed in the city as early as March, but opponents plan to fight the bill.

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