g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com November 14, 2011 02:09:36 PM ET
Washington State Aims for Marriage Equality
By Michelle Garcia
Rep. Jim Moeller x390 (.gov) | ADVOCATE.COM
Rep. Jim Moeller
Two years after Washington approved a contentious, wide-ranging domestic
partnership law, legislators are now looking to enact full marriage equality.
A coalition of civil rights groups, under the moniker Washington United for
Marriage, will announce a push to legalize marriage equality on Monday, the
Seattle Timesreports. Leaders of the groups said they plan to pressure the
legislature to pass the bill in 2012, but they said they are also prepared
to defend it from a referendum challenge.
Currently, Democrats control the senate and house, and Governor Chris
Gregoire supported the domestic partnership bill in 2009. Still, openly gay
State Sen. Ed Murray told the Times that some Republicans will have to be
swayed to vote in favor of the bill, as some conservative Democrats have
voted against gay rights in the past.
Murray, a lead sponsor of the bill, said he will work with the coalition to
raise funds and organize efforts to raise public support of the legislation.
Additionally, Rep. Jim Moeller announced Thursday that he and several other
representatives will introduce the bill this week to the house.
In 1998, Washington passed its own Defense of Marriage Act, which defines
marriage as only being for heterosexual couples. While the state supreme
court upheld the law in 2006, Moeller told The Columbian that times have
changed, and support for marriage equality is growing.
According to the Victory Fund, a recent poll shows that 55% Washington
voters would support a marriage equality law if passed by the state
legislature. |
|
