Domestic partnerships in Washington State

Referendum 71

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Referendum 71:

The state legislature passed Senate Bill 5688 earlier this year. It gave registered domestic partners in the state all of the "...rights, responsibilities, and obligations granted by or imposed by state law on married couples."

Two conservative religious groups, Washington Values Alliance (WAVA) ₁, and the Faith and Freedom Network ₂ share the goal of maintaining discrimination against same-sex couples and their children. The groups initiated a signature drive to place Referendum 71 on the ballot at election day 2009-NOV-03. It would repeal the 5688. A total of 121,847 valid signatures were collected. Since this is very slightly in excess of the 120,577 required, the referendum will be added to the ballot.

WhoSigned.org plans to publish the names of all the petition signatories. Some interpret this as an attempt at intimidation. However, the website states:

"We believe the process for initiative and referendum petitions that maintain discrimination by opposing equal rights and protections for Washington State residents must meet a high standard of transparency to ensure a fair and open discussion in the public forum. ₃ 

The voters will be presented with the following ballot:

If the majority of voters vote for rejection, then Senate Bill 5688 will be null and void.

Prediction of the referendum results:

If we assume that:

	Voters in favor of same-sex marriage and voters in favor of same-sex couples having access to domestic partnerships with full rights will vote for Referendum 71 in the same proportion as was found in the Washington Poll for 2008, and
	Voters in favor of only partial domestic partnerships or of no recognition of same-sex relationships at all will vote against Referendum 71 in the same proportion as the poll found, and
	Voters who had no opinion in the poll will not vote in the referendum, and
	Public opinion will remain stable between 2008-OCT and election day, 2009-NOV-03, then:

The referendum would pass with a vote of about 67% in favor to 33% in opposed -- a ratio of 2 to 1.

The Washington Poll has conducted a series of polls that have asked voters directly what they think of domestic partnerships. It is of particular interest because it shows a trend in voter's opinions: three polls have been taken over a two year period:

There has been a steady increase in the percentage of supporters of domestic partnerships, and a steady decline in the number of those opposed.

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) conducted a poll on behalf of Approve 71, a group that favors passage of Referendum 71. The pollsters asked the whether the voter was planning to vote yes or no in November. Results still show majority support for  domestic partnerships, but the numbers are at considerable variance from the Washington Poll results:

In particular, the percentage opposed is double the value of the Washington Poll value.

About advertising:

Extensive fear and disinformation-based advertising could sway the results significantly, as happened in California over Proposition 8.

The most effective advertising technique by those opposed to enhanced rights for same-sex couples might be to portray the referendum as having nothing to do with domestic partnerships. They could try to convince voters that it is a simple vote for or against same-sex marriage. This seems to be the path that those opposed to SB 5688 have taken:

A new political action committee (PAC) was organized to collect the signatures leading to Referendum 71. They decided to call themselves "Protect Marriage Washington," even though the referendum is about domestic partnerships and unrelated to marriage. Their yard sign states: "Preserve Marriage, Protect Children On Referendum-71 REJECT SB-5688 Marriage = One Man, One Woman." The term "domestic partnership" does not appear on the sign. Similarly, their doorbell flier contains 25 references to marriage and only four references to domestic partnerships. The casual viewer would assume that Referendum 71 is a plebiscite for or against same-sex marriage.

During 2009-MAR the Washington Values Alliance (WAVA) posted disinformation videos on YouTube implying that the Senate bill SB 5688 would redefine marriage to include homosexual relationships. In reality the Senate bill left marriage completely alone. The bill would merely enhance the rights of the approximately 5,700 registered domestic partners in the state. Same-sex couples would still be prohibited from marrying. They would still be denied the approximately 1,140 federal benefits and rights that married couples receive.

In mid-2009, the Knights of Columbus endorsed the referendum, and also linked it to same-sex marriage. They suggested that if the referendum fails, the Washington State Supreme Court was poised to reverse its 2006 ruling and legalize same-sex marriage in the state. 5 This appears to be pure speculation on their part. Courts really do not operate in this way; they can only rule on cases brought before them.

If the groups opposed to equal rights for same-sex couples are able to delude the public into believing that the referendum is about same-sex marriage (SSM), then voters who favor full domestic partnerships but oppose SSM might be persuaded to vote in favor of the referendum and cancel full domestic partnerships in the state. It remains to be seen whether the voters of Washington State are that easily duped.

The groups opposed to full domestic partnerships are taking a major risk with this campaign approach. If the public realizes that they are being lied to and that the real issue relates to domestic partnership and not to same-sex marriage, there might be a backlash. The result would be a major loss of credibility by the "NO" campaign.

If SB-5699 is sustained in Washington, the movement to maintain LGBT inequality in the U.S. would suffer a major defeat.

Election night results:

Polls closed at 8 PM local time (11 PM ET).

R-71 appears to have been approved. with massive support in major urban counties in the Northwest of the state and massive opposition in rural counties in the rest of the state. The vote was 509,673 (51.1%) to 487,808 (48.9%) ₈

If the vote is certified, loving, committed same-sex couples would still be unable to marry. However, if registered as domestic partners, they would receive all of the state rights and privileges given to married couples. The larger prize -- over 1,000 federal benefits -- remains currently out of reach due to the federal DOMA law.

References used in this essay:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. The home page of the Washington Values Alliance is at: http://www.valuesaction.org/
2. The home page of the Faith & Freedom Network is at: http://www.faithandfreedom.us/
3. The home page of WhoSigned.org is, appropriately, at: http://whosigned.org/
4. "Washington Referendum 71 (2009), BallotPedia.org, as at 2009-SEP-25, at: http://ballotpedia.org/
5. "Knights of Columbus endorse Ref. 71," Protect Marriage Washington, undated, at: http://protectmarriagewa.com/
6. "Yard Sign," Protect Marriage Washington, at: http://www.protectmarriagewa.com/
7. "Doorbell flier," Protect Marriage Washington, at: http://www.protectmarriagewa.com/
8. "Elections: November 3,2009," Washington Secretary of State, 2009-NOV-04, at: http://vote.wa.gov/

Copyright © 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Original posting: 2009-JUL-29
Latest update: 2009-NOV-04
Author: B.A. Robinson

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