When Washington’s state legislature passed the marriage equality bill in February, it marked the culmination of a 17-year effort led by Sen. Ed Murray. The gay lawmaker took office in 1995, just as the state’s Defense of Marriage Act, which outlawed same-sex marriage, was introduced. Republicans then in control of the state legislature considered the debate so offensive that they ordered the pages, including Murray’s nephew, removed from the House floor.
Antigay rhetoric at the capitol in Olympia is one of many things Murray has worked methodically to change in a career that has taken him from the House to the Senate, where he chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee. A lawmaker from what he calls a “very, very, very liberal Democratic” Seattle district, he pushed early for key committee assignments, like budget and transportation, recognizing that being identified with brick-and-mortar issues and crafting alliances would help him advance LGBT rights legislation in the “moderate” state. He first collaborated with Gov. Christine Gregoire, who proposed the marriage equality bill, on an antibullying bill a decade ago, when she was attorney general.
“I believed that part of the way I was going to move this forward was by being viewed as someone who could lead on other issues and could work with people on other issues and build relationships with members on other issues,” he says.
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