OLYMPIA -- A series of panels, pro and con, opened the overflow hearing on the same-sex marriage bill this morning.

Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Baptist Church, an opponent of the bill, told members of a Senate panel who have already made up their mind to vote yes that they must think they "know better than God."

"I do not think God is excited with SB 6239," Hutcherson said.

To people who say religious conservatives are narrow-minded because they oppose same-sex marriage, Hutcherson countered that they are just as narrow-minded if they would later vote against a bill that allowed three men, three women or three adults to marry.

Opponents also were very clear that if the bill passes as is, without a referendum clause, they will bring force it to the ballot. An issue of this magnitude has "at least as much impact as a tax issue," Joseph Backholm of the Family Policy Institute said.

SB 6239 would change allow same-sex couples to marry without requiring religious groups that object to perform those services. It does not contain a clause requiring a public vote to ratify it.

---

---