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"If marriage means everything, it means absolutely
nothing." Dr. James C. Dobson, of Focus on the Family. |
| "A loving man and woman in a committed relationship can marry. Dogs, no matter what their relationship, are not allowed to marry. How should society treat gays and lesbians in committed relationships? As dogs or as humans?" A posting to an Internet mailing list; used by permission of the author. |
Synopsis:
|
1998: The Washington state legislature passed a Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA). It restricts marriage within the state to the union
of one man and one woman. Its constitutionality wasupheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006. |
| 2004: Six same-sex couples attempted to obtain marriage licenses.
They were refused and launched a lawsuit. For the first time, a U.S. court
declared a DOMA act unconstitutional. |
| 2004: Eleven same-sex couples repeated the same sequence with the
same result. |
| 2005: The Washington Supreme Court overturned both lawsuits,
declaring the DOMA law constitutional. |
|
2006: After three decades of effort, a civil rights bill for lesbians, gays and bisexuals was finally passed. |
|
2007: The state legislature and governor passed a domestic
partnership law. As of the start of 2012, almost 20,000 people were registered in domestic partnerships. |
| 2009: The legislature and governor passed an enhanced domestic
partnership law with all of the state benefits that had previously been a
special privilege of opposite-sex married couples. Conservative Christian
groups mounted Referendum R-71 to repeal the law. |
|
2009-NOV-03: Washington state voters went to the polls to
vote on R-71. They narrowly authorized what has been called the "everything but
marriage" bill. It gave to registered domestic partners the full set of the state's rights and privileges that had previously been given only to opposite-sex married couples . However, they did not receive what is perhaps the most important right: the right to call their relationship a marriage. Also, they are currently denied the approximately 1,100 federal benefits because of the federal DOMA law. |
|
2011: Polls indicate that most Washington state voters support SSM. The Seattle Times newspaper also supports SSM. |
|
2012: Activity began in the legislature to legalize SSM. By 2012-JAN-24, a bill in the Senate had 25 votes in support, the minimum needed to pass the bill. A corresponding bill in the House had 50 sponsors among the 98 representatives. The governor, Chris Gregoire (D) is an enthusiastic sponsor. SSM opponents are expected to mount a petition to place a referendum on the ballot on election day in 2012-NOV to repeal the law. |
Topics covered in this section:
Copyright © 2004 to 2012 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-SEP-12
Latest update: 2012-FEB-14
Author: B.A. Robinson
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