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Monday, October 26th, 2009
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Washington state are facing a crucial vote. Voters are choosing whether to approve or reject SB 5688–a domestic partnership expansion bill passed earlier this year by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor in May.
The law would grant the rights of civil marriage in Washington state–like sharing health benefits and death benefits, and hospital visitation rights–to same-sex couples and heterosexual partners where at least one of the two people is over the age of 62, without calling it “marriage.” Everyone registered to vote in Washington state should vote to approve Referendum 71 and protect the rights of LGBT couples and seniors.
This “Everything but Marriage” law–as it is referred to by its supporters–is the culmination of a strategy of working toward marriage equality by first creating the domestic partnership category for same-sex couples, and then adding more and more rights until domestic partners have the same state-granted rights as married couples do, just without the name.
Full Story from SocialistWorker.org: http://socialistworker.org/2009/10/26/fight-for-referendum-71
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in domestic partnerships, Gay Marriage, r71, referendum 71, wa, washington state | No Responses »
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
I rarely use the word homophobic. I like to save it for those times when there is not a better adjective. In Protect Marriage Washington’s case, homophobic is the best adjective to describe their latest e-mail to supporters urging them to reject referendum 71. The letter was written by Senator Val Stevens. She wrote:
Could this be the final battle? Are the homosexuals finally going to take control of our culture and push their depraved lifestyle on our children and families?
Senator Stevens clearly does not understand the bill. We are simply trying to protect our families and children in times of crisis, like having the ability to take unpaid leave from work to care for a loved one without being fired. I’m not quite sure how that affects her family.
Full Story from Seattle PI: http://blog.seattlepi.com/stepforward/archives/182740.asp?source=mypi
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Gay Marriage, homophobia, r71, referendum 71, wahsington state | No Responses »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
With voters beginning to decide the fate of Referendum 71, a member of the nation’s highest court on Monday entered the legal fight on whether those who helped put the controversial measure on the ballot will keep their identities secret.
U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy reimposed a federal ban on releasing the names of petition signers lifted last week by a 9th Circuit Court federal appeals panel.
Sponsors of Referendum 71, who want the names kept secret, asked Kennedy last week to intervene. State lawyers filed a 39-page response Monday arguing there was no basis to overturn the appeals court decision.
Full Story from Herald.net: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20091020/NEWS01/710209876&news01ad=1
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Gay Marriage, hold, kennedy, r71, referendum 71, release, signatures, us supreme court justice | No Responses »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
With all the attention that Beyond Chron has given to Maine’s Question 1, we would be remiss not to mention that Washington State has a similar ballot fight November 3rd. The difference is that in Washington the battle is over domestic partnerships (not gay marriage), which makes a victory there less historically significant. I also felt from the start that Referendum 71 was a more winnable cause, because a number of swing voters who are uncomfortable with granting marriage rights to gay couples strongly support civil unions.
But you wouldn’t know this based on how the right in Washington has waged their campaign. Opponents of Referendum 71 say their fight is about “protecting marriage” – and view Washington’s domestic partner law as an assault on their theocratic agenda. Meanwhile, their allies in Maine claim to have nothing against gay couples having all of the same rights and benefits – but their problem is with re-defining the term “marriage.” How they’re waging the campaign in Washington exposes this as a bald faced lie.
In Maine, the state legislature and Governor passed a marriage equality law – and the right has used the “People’s Veto” process to collect signatures and put it on the ballot. In Washington, the legislature and Governor passed Senate Bill 5688 to create a domestic partnership law similar to what we currently have in California – and the right has used the “referendum” process to collect signatures and put it on the ballot.
Full Story from Beyond Chron: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7459#more
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in domestic partnerships, Gay Marriage, r71, referendum 71, washington state | No Responses »
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
That’s the latest last evening from Gary Randall, leader of the Faith & Freedom Network who also is a leader in the Protect Marriage Washington campaign.
The gay rights opponents want the U.S. Supreme Court to step in after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday ordered the Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed to release the signatures and names of Referendum 71 signers.
A Seattle man who supports the domestic-partnership rights of R-71 wants to publish the names on a website, whosigned.com. The R-71 campaign says it does not condone that action, and Reed’s office has said the same; but state elections officials contend the signatures petitions are public records and have been treated as such for several years.
Full Story from The Olympian: http://www.theolympian.com/politicsblog/story/1005609.html
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in Gay Marriage, petitions, r71, referendum 71, signatures, us supreme court, wa, washington state | No Responses »
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks has scheduled a hearing Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. to hear the state’s request that the names of people who signed petitions seeking to have a new, expanded gay rights law overturned be made public.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday granted an immediate stay and reversed a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking the release of Referendum 71 petitions.
Last month a federal judge blocked the release of names of people who signed R-71. U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle said releasing the names could violate the First Amendment rights of those who signed petitions to get R-71 on the ballot. The secretary of state’s office criticized the ruling, saying it was “a step away from open government.”
Full Story from the Seattle PI: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/182328.asp?from=blog_last3
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in petitions, r71, release, rreferendum 71, signatures, washington state | No Responses »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Protect Marriage Washington, which collected the signatures to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot, said it will appeal Thursday’s federal appeals-court ruling that cleared the way for public release of the names of those who signed petitions for the measure.
“That particular group of judges saw the law one way; we’ll take it to the next group of judges that may have the opportunity to see it the correct way,” said Stephen Pidgeon, attorney for the conservative religious organization.
Referendum 71 will ask voters to approve or reject the Legislature’s latest expansion of the state’s domestic-partnership law, which grants marriage-like benefits to gay and some senior couples.
Full Story from the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010072420_webref7115m.html
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in federal appeals court, petitions, r71, referendum 71, release, signatures, washington | No Responses »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
With no real plan, a scattered base and well-heeled opponents, two political activists many people have never heard of are scoring unexpected victories in a campaign to roll back domestic-partnership benefits for gay couples in Washington state.
Facing resistance even from within their own ranks, they’ve landed wins in state and federal courts, and were triumphant where it mattered most: a contentious signature count in the Secretary of State’s Office that ultimately credited them with enough valid signatures to get Referendum 71 onto the Nov. 3 ballot.
Larry Stickney, campaign manager for Protect Marriage Washington, and Gary Randall, his philosophical soul mate, see the tightly contested battle as one not about pension rights and sick leave but as their last chance to protect traditional marriage in Washington.
Full Story from TDN.com: http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/10/14/breaking_news/doc4ad64297bb3c0812231942.txt
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in divorce, gary randall, larry stickney, r71, referendum 71, unpaid taxes, washington | No Responses »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
The dicey question over whether the Secretary of State can release the names and addresses of those who signed petitions to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot is now in the hands of the three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ref 71 will ask voters on Nov. 3 to either approve or reject the state’s latest expansion of the domestic partnership law, which grants marriage-like benefits to registered gay and some senior couples.
Attorneys for protect Marriage Washington, which gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot, told the three-judge panel that petition signatures are protected free speech under the First Amendment and as such should be shielded from public release.
Full Story from the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2010065743_the_dicey_question_over_whethe.html
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington State.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in domestic partnerships, Gay Marriage, petitions, r71, referendum 71, release, ruling, signatures | No Responses »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
In a fairly unsurprising session, City Council members passed resolutions opposing a government revenue-restricting initiative from Tim Eyman and backing a domestic partnership law.
The council unanimously, with Councilman Gene Knutson absent, approved a resolution opposing Eyman’s Initiative 1033, which limits the growth of certain city, county and state revenue to the rate of inflation and population growth.
Members also, in a 5-0 vote with Councilman Stan Snapp abstaining, passed a resolution urging voters to approve Referendum 71, which would enact a domestic partnership law that has been dubbed the “everything but marriage” law.
Full Story from the Bellingham Herald: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/localnews/story/1111499.html
Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
Posted in bellingham, city council, domestic partnerships, endorses, r71, referendum 71, washington state | No Responses »
