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January 5, 2012 in City
Gregoire backs gay marriage
Opposition group already meeting, would ‘absolutely fight’ bill
Mona Smith, left, Louise Chernin, center, and Anne Levinson applaud with other supporters Wednesday as Gov. Chris Gregoire announces she wants Washington state to legalize same-sex marriage.
(Full-size photo)
OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire’s emotional call for Washington state to legalize same-sex marriages brought cheers from supporters who filled her conference room Wednesday. But opponents were already coalescing for a fight in the Legislature and a Republican leader questioned the timing of her push on the controversial issue.
Gregoire urged the Legislature to pass a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in the state without requiring churches to perform the service if their religious denomination objects.
“It is now time for equality of our gay and lesbian citizens, and that means marriage,” Gregoire said. Six other states have legalized same-sex marriages; Washington state has a domestic partnership law that was expanded several times, with the most recent version surviving an attempt by opponents to overturn it at the polls.
Gregoire received extended applause from some 70 people crowded into the governor’s conference room as she called same-sex marriage rights a defining civil rights issue of the current generation. Younger citizens are ahead of her generation, and the public is ahead of the Legislature on it, she insisted.
The arguments used for keeping the current system of domestic partnerships instead of marriage for same-sex couples are some of the same ones used to keep African-Americans in separate schools, housing and drinking fountains under the doctrine of “separate but equal,” she said.
Although the experiences of racial minorities aren’t identical to those of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender citizens, the laws are “inherently unjust,” she said.
The call for a law allowing same-sex marriage is a significant departure for Gregoire, who for years has supported domestic partnerships and said she was concerned about the state telling churches who they could marry.
“It has been a battle for me, with my religion,” said Gregoire, who is Roman Catholic. “I was uncomfortable with the position I took publicly. I respect religious freedom, but the state cannot be in the business of discrimination.”
Legislators who attended the press conference said they believed they have the votes in the House to pass a bill Gregoire will endorse, but are “a few votes” short of a majority in the Senate. But it is time for legislators to step up and take a tough vote on same-sex marriage, said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who predicted he would get Republican votes for that measure, something he doubted he would get for a tax increase.
“Suddenly, passing gay marriage becomes easier than passing taxes,” Murray said.
Legislators said they intend to file bills that would not automatically put the change on the November ballot. But it wouldn’t have an emergency clause, which would give opponents time to try gathering signatures to force a public vote.
The last time the Legislature made changes to laws involving same-sex couples – expanding domestic partnership laws in 2009 – opponents quickly gathered enough signatures to bring those changes before voters. That law was upheld by voters, 53 percent to 47 percent.
Even before Gregoire formally announced her support for the legislation, a new coalition was forming to oppose it. The Rev. Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Baptist Church in Kirkland, Wash., said the group began meeting Tuesday night and had not yet settled on a name but would “absolutely” fight the bill during the upcoming session.
“We’re looking extremely forward to it,” Hutcherson said. He hopes the Legislature votes down the bill, so members are on record for their support or opposition. “We do not want to give the Democrats or the Republicans the opportunity to put it on the people.”
Hutcherson, an African-American who grew up in Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s, contended that Gregoire was paying back the political support she received from gays and lesbians over the years by backing a same-sex marriage bill. “It’s an absolute insult, what she said, trying to compare homosexuals with what African-Americans went through in the South,” Hutcherson said.
State Sen. Dan Swecker of Rochester, a leading Republican opponent on the gay marriage issue, said he was surprised Gregoire brought up the contentious issue during a short session that has to deal with significant budget cuts. “It will be a very divisive issue. She’s just kind of fanning the flames,” he said.
The two parties have worked together in the Senate on budget problems in recent years, and one reason was gay marriage legislation was “taken off the table,” he said.
Gregoire said the state’s financial woes shouldn’t be an excuse for not taking up same-sex marriage: “We’re going to continue to discriminate because we have budget problems?”
Swecker called that a “facetious” argument. A bill to legalize gay marriage “will be very much a part of the mix” in a short, busy session, he said.
Judge rules against two-thirds tax law 
Scoutster on January 05 at 7:29 a.m.
Thank Gawd there’s an opposition forming.
In Minnesota those gays know their place. They even apologized to the state Senate Majority Leader for ruining her marriage.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/12/gay_marriage_amy_koch_michael_brodkorb.php
swell_swell on January 05 at 8:36 a.m.
Yay! It’s about time we stop being treated as second-class citizens and receive the same rights and privileges as everyone else. All I want to be able to do is marry the person I love and give this person the legal protection any spouse would have if I were to fall ill or be injured and die. As it stands right now, my biological family could try to challenge my partner for my assets after my death even though we are registered domestic partners (because they live in Pennsylvania where our relationship isn’t recognized).
In addition, there have been multiple cases of hospitals and other institutions not recognizing the rights of registered domestic partners to make decisions for one another, to visit one another, etc. So we clearly don’t have all the rights that heterosexual married couples have despite the law. As history has shown us, “separate but equal” isn’t.
pjc on January 05 at 9:11 a.m.
The call for a law allowing same-sex marriage is a significant departure for Gregoire, who for years has supported domestic partnerships and said she was concerned about the state telling churches who they could marry.
I’m okay with gay marriage because I have libertarian leanings; however, this is a typical politician with no absolutely no political courage. She is the lamest of lame ducks because she isn’t running for re-election and the state is flat broke. She is a day late and a lot of dollars short.
Ultimately, this issue will get buried in the budget fight and not much will come of it.
pinkbutter on January 05 at 11:16 a.m.
Gay relationships are significantly different than heterosexual relationships. It has been well documented recently that a large proportion of gays are not monogamous, even in long term relationships. According to the New York Times:
“New research at San Francisco State University reveals just how common open relationships are among gay men and lesbians in the Bay Area. The gay couples study has followed 556 male couples for 3 years. About 50% of those surveyed have sex outside their relationships, with the knowledge and approval of their partners…..None of this is news to the gay community, but few will speak publicly about it
Gay partners are commonly not monogamous, and also gay people have much higher rates of diseases, including not only HIV, but hepatitis, bowel disease, many infectious diseases, and rectal cancer. (from Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth, by Jeffrey Satinover, MD.
To call a gay coupling a marriage is to infer that these important risks and differences do not exist.
detroitdude on January 05 at 11:56 a.m.
“Gay relationships are significantly different than heterosexual relationships. It has been well documented recently that a large proportion of gays are not monogamous, even in long term relationships.”
That is a dubious assertion. But, it doesn’t effect you, what do you care what they do? We are talking about consenting adults, it’s not your business. Also, you must never have heard of the White Rose in Post Falls, where married heterosexual couples routinely meet up and have orgies.
greenlibertarian on January 05 at 11:02 p.m.
pinkbutter, deeply closeted, pipes in from time to time citing BOGUS statistics that have been discredited, disowned, and refuted 9 ways to Sunday, but pinkbutter boy, thinks repeating a lie over and over makes it true.
Sorry buddy boy.
Call.
pinkbutter on January 06 at 9:02 a.m.
Greenlibertarian,
your letter is crass and dishonest. If you have something to contribute, do it respectfully.
terryalan on January 06 at 10:53 a.m.
I think Greenlibertarian made a very valid point. And since when do YOU get to issue orders, pinkyboy?
terryalan on January 06 at 10:54 a.m.
Oh, and pink? You might want to read up on the breeder rates of divorce and adultery…
pinkbutter on January 09 at 12:59 p.m.
You are just illustrating why the statistics which I referred to, with their source, are not widely known—the intimidation many proponents use to prevent uncomfortable truths about the gay lifestyle from becoming widely known.
pinkbutter on January 09 at 1:18 p.m.
Detroitdude,
I didn’t say that homosexuals should not have that right to relate to one another in that way. This is a free country. I said that a large proportion of homosexual couples do not believe in being monogamous, and that that is a good reason not to call that sort of relationship a marriage.
I didn’t say all heterosexuals were monogamous, certainly there are some who aren’t, but they are not nearly as common as homosexual couples with “open” relationships.
July on January 19 at 1:32 p.m.
Please vote this woman out!!! Please. Our fine liberal blue state missed an opportunity when Dino Rossi was bypassed to be a representative of this state. Gregoire, once again, like a true politician, will blow smoke whichever way she needs, to get the current popular movement behind her. I am not going to sit in judgment of the gay community because Lord knows I am in no position to judge, however, I do not approve. I will never support gay marriage. Am I missing something? Is it so important for gay couples to have the law on their side? They live as married couples anyway and receive benefits. Is it just for recognition and to cram it down the throats of straight couples? Normally, I would read this article and move on but I just think we have to look at the big picture. Gregoire touts her support for gay marriage; where does she stand on straight couples family issues as it relates to legislature? Just throwing it out. I have recently experienced a travesty in the Court system – Family Law and am compelled to respond to this nonsense of gay issues. There are more important social issues.