Lou Chibbaro Jr. | Mar 05, 2010

DeWayne Davis (left) and Kareem Murphy of Silver Spring, Md., are selling their home and moving to D.C. to enjoy the benefits of marriage. (DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)

Kareem Murphy and DeWayne Davis of Silver Spring, Md., have been together for nearly 19 years.

The two gay men, who are active members of D.C.’s Metropolitan Community Church, said they have been grappling for several years over whether to remain in Maryland or move back to the District, where they lived in the 1990s.

“Moving back to D.C. was attractive, but when the marriage issue took off it made the choice between Maryland and D.C. very clear in D.C.’s favor,” said Murphy, a lobbyist with a firm that represents local municipal governments.

“It kind of sealed the deal,” he said, referring to the D.C. same-sex marriage law that took effect Wednesday.

The couple has placed their Silver Spring house up for sale and is actively looking for a new home in the District.

Murphy and Davis, both 38 and graduates of Howard University, belong to a demographic group that gay activists and city officials say they will closely monitor over the next year or two to measure the economic impact of same-sex marriage in the nation’s capital.

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