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Wash. Senate Passes Law
to Expand Domestic Partnerships

Wash. Senate Passes Law
to Expand Domestic Partnerships

The Washington State senate approved legislation Tuesday night that would give same-sex domestic partners all the rights and benefits afforded married couples.

The Washington State senate approved legislation Tuesday night that would give same-sex domestic partners all the rights and benefits afforded married couples.

The "everything but marriage bill," as it has been called, would add references to domestic partnerships to all remaining areas of state law that refer only to married couples, according to the Seattle Times.

A domestic partnership law was originally enacted in the state in 2007, and it has already been expanded once. Washington has a Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1998, which restricts the definition of marriage to the union of a man and a woman.

The new domestic partnerships bill, spearheaded by gay state senator Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat, passed the senate by a party-line vote of 38-10. It now moves to the house, where it is expected to pass. Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, has said she supports the measure.

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