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发帖数: 33825 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Queer 俱乐部 】
发信人: LXJSmonk (紫色心情的 LXJS NYC_monk), 信区: Queer
标 题: Washington Gay Marriage: State Senate Approves Bill To Allow Same Sex Couples To Wed
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Thu Feb 2 03:09:32 2012, 美东)
Washington Gay Marriage: State Senate Approves Bill To Allow Same Sex
Couples To Wed
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/washington-gay-marriag
=======================
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill
that would legalize same-sex marriage, setting the stage for the state to
become the seventh to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.
The measure now heads to the House, which is expected to approve it. Gov.
Chris Gregoire supports the measure and has said she will sign it into law,
though opponents have promised to challenge it at the ballot with a
referendum.
The packed public galleries burst into applause as the Senate passed the
measure on a 28-21 vote Wednesday night after nearly an hour and a half of
debate. Four Republicans crossed party lines and voted with majority
Democrats for the measure. Three Democrats voted against it.
Democratic Sen. Ed Murray, the bill's sponsor, said he knew same-sex
marriage "is as contentious any issue that this body has considered in its
history."
Lawmakers who vote against gay marriage "are not, nor should they be accused
of bigotry" he said.
"Those of us who support this legislation are not, and we should not be
accused of, undermining family life or religious freedom," said Murray, a
gay lawmaker from Seattle who has spearheaded past gay rights and domestic
partnership laws in the state. "Marriage is how society says you are a
family."
Nearly a dozen amendments were introduced, including several that passed
that strengthen legal protections for religious groups and organizations.
Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester argued that the proposed law alters the
definition of marriage and "will lead to the silencing of those who believe
in traditional marriage."
Even though a referendum clause amendment was rejected, opponents have
already promised to file a challenge, which can't be done until after it is
passed by the full Legislature and signed into law by Gregoire. Opponents
then must turn in 120,577 signatures by June 6.
If opponents aren't able to collect enough signatures, gay and lesbian
couples would be able to be wed starting in June. Otherwise, they would have
to wait until the results of a November election.
Before last week, it wasn't certain the Senate would have the support to
pass the measure, as a handful of Democrats remained undecided.
But after the first public hearing on the issue Jan. 23, a previously
undecided Democratic senator, Mary Margaret Haugen of Camano Island, said
she would be the 25th and deciding vote in support of the bill, all but
ensuring its passage.
Gay marriage opponent Jane Sterland, 56, stood outside the Senate gallery
before the debate started. Sterland said she was disappointed by the light
turnout of same-sex marriage foes.
"It saddens me that there aren't more Christians here tonight," she said. "I
'm just very grieved about this whole thing. I want to be here for prayer
support against this issue."
Alex Guenser, a 26-year-old engineer, drove down to Olympia from his Redmond
home with his boyfriend to watch the Senate debate.
"I feel like this is the hill, the crest of the marriage equality fight. And
after this passes (in the Senate), it's all going to be smoother sailing
from now on," Guenser said. "I'm really excited to have Washington pass this
. I'm excited for my state."
Same-sex marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
Lawmakers in New Jersey and Maryland are expected to debate gay marriage
this year, and Maine could see a gay marriage proposal on the November
ballot.
The debate over same-sex marriage in Washington state has changed
significantly since lawmakers passed Washington's Defense of Marriage Act in
1998, which banned gay marriage. The constitutionality of DOMA was
ultimately upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006, but earlier that year,
a gay civil rights measure passed after nearly 30 years of failure.
The quick progression of domestic partnership laws in the state came soon
after, with a domestic partnership law in 2007, and two years of expansion
that culminated in 2009 with the so-called "everything but marriage law"
that was upheld by voters after opponents filed a referendum to challenge it.
Under the measure that passed Wednesday, the more than 9,300 couples
currently registered in domestic partnerships would have two years to either
dissolve their relationship or get married. Domestic partnerships that aren
't ended prior to June 30, 2014, would automatically become marriages.
Domestic partnerships would remain for senior couples where at least one
partner is 62 years old or older. That provision was included to help
seniors who don't remarry out of fear they could lose certain pension or
Social Security benefits. | x**j
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