Washington State legislator promises to introduce marriage-equality bill

In the wake of the Washington State supreme court decision Wednesday to uphold the state's same-sex marriage ban, one of the state's gay legislators vowed to introduce a marriage-equality bill. But a dispirited state representative, Seattle Democrat Ed Murray, said he wasn't optimistic it would pass anytime soon, the Associated Press reports.

"I'll introduce a marriage equality bill," Murray, the senior of the state's four openly gay legislators, said, "but I don't expect it to pass next session or for many sessions." In its sharply divided 5–4 ruling, the court left open the possibility that the legislature could reverse its 1998 Defense of Marriage Act and legalize same-sex marriage.

Although Washington is known for being a progressive state, public-opinion polls show a majority of voters there oppose same-sex marriage, and many politicians, including Democratic governor Chris Gregoire, remain leery of the issue. "The sacrament of marriage is between two people and their faith," Gregoire told the AP, adding that she's open to offering more marriage-like benefits to gay couples. "It is not the business of the state."

Except that it is the business of the state, which is why the 19 gay and lesbian couples in the case before the supreme court were suing. "I believe that our constitution should treat all of its citizens the same, and in this case the court was willing to treat my family differently than other families," Brenda Bauer of Seattle, who sued along with her longtime partner, Celia Castle, told the AP. "Today's a pretty sad day for our family."

Meanwhile, more gay rights groups and supporters denounced the court's decision. "Today's ruling makes no sense," the Reverend Mike Schuenemeyer, national minister for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender concerns for the United Church of Christ, said in a statement Wednesday. "The court has apparently chosen not to rely on the state's constitution but on one particular religious view of marriage."

He added: "In this decision, the majority failed to respect the freedom of religion, equal protection under the law, and the right to privacy. They have denied justice and placed couples and their families seeking the right to marry in harm's way."

"America is built on the values of fairness and equality, and the long march toward realizing that dream continues," said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese in a statement. "While Washington families will continue to be denied basic fairness under the law, millions of fair-minded citizens will continue to press on for full equality. Working with Equal Rights Washington and leaders in the state, we'll now work to ensure their voices are heard in the legislature as this now moves to the statehouse."

Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, said, "If, as our society believes, marriage is so important for nongay families and a fundamental right under the constitution, why isn't that true for gay couples? Why, when gay couples are involved, does the freedom to marry become so trivial that their exclusion only warrants the lowest level of 'highly deferential' review? By 5–4, these judges failed to do their job. Now the legislators must do their job, acting to end this discrimination, while we do ours, speaking out about who gay families are and why marriage matters." (The Advocate)