Ban On Same-Sex Marriage Passes 2-To-1 In House To Avoid A Lowry Veto, Bill Would Ask Voters To Make The Call

The Republican-led House approved a measure Saturday asking voters if they want to ban same-sex marriages, although Democrats, some in tears, protested that the bill would only stir hatred.

In other action, the House approved a measure to create a special department for children. The Senate voted to require insurance carriers to offer chiropractic and naturopathic coverage.

The same-sex marriage measure passed by a vote of 66-30. But the Senate is unlikely to pass the bill or even give it a hearing, leaders of the Democratic majority there have said.

Backers attached a clause sending the issue to the voters in order to bypass an expected veto from Gov. Mike Lowry. But it does need Senate approval to reach the ballot.

Often weeping, several House Democrats contended anti-gay proposals in other states have provoked passions resulting in beatings and slayings.

Majority Republicans were mostly silent as one Democrat after another stood to denounce the legislation.

The few Republicans who rose to speak said the Democrats had distorted the issue. They argued that the measure is not about gay marriage but about the right of a state to decide by itself what is right and proper. They said the people should openly debate and vote on the question.

The bill’s sponsor, freshman Rep. Bill Thompson, R-Everett, explained that Hawaiian courts, as early as this summer, may legalize same-sex marriages.

Washington gay couples could jet to the islands, get married and return home, expecting the same privileges afforded heterosexual married couples, such as health benefits and inheritance rights, he and other backers have said.”We’re all over the map on this. I don’t know what the answer is here. I think we ought to let the people of Washington State help us with this decision,” added Rep. Barbara Lisk, R-Zillah.

Democrats fought unsuccessfully to defeat an amendment, though some of them said it could doom the measure if it ever reaches the voters.

The amendment added language that says: “It is a compelling interest of the state of Washington to reaffirm its historic commitment to the institution of marriage as a union between a man and a woman and its fundamental role in the procreation and development of children.”

The debate spilled into the wings of the House, where Rep. Brian Hatfield, D-Montesano, stood weeping. Hatfield said the issue brought back a long-buried memory of a cousin who had committed suicide in the mid-1980s. Hatfield said he had refused to be a pallbearer at the funeral when he learned the cousin was gay.

“I am so sad when I look back and see what kind of a person I was,” he said. “And I think, hey, if a redneck like me can see the kind of pain discrimination causes, anybody should be able to.” Hatfield voted no on the bill.

In other action, the House sent the Senate a measure, HB2226, to create a cabinet-level department to handle all services dealing with children. Similar legislation to create a Department of Children and Family Services is in trouble in the Senate.

The measure was inspired in part by failures in the Department of Social and Health Services to protect children from harm in group and foster homes. Gov. Mike Lowry opposes creating a children’s department, and has indicated he would veto the measure if it reached his desk.

The Senate, meanwhile, sent to the House SB6122 requiring health insurance carriers to cover chiropractic and naturopathic services. The proposal is expected to provoke a fight in the GOP House caucus, whose members are split on the issue.