Conservatives Fight Same-Sex Marriages

Washington voters should be allowed to decide whether to ban same-sex marriages, conservative lawmakers and citizen groups say.

Gay-rights activists and Gov. Mike Lowry denounced the proposal, which is called the No. 1 legislative goal of “pro-family” religious groups this year. The state’s only openly gay legislator, Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, called it “painfully discriminatory … and a gratuitous insult.”

The Republican-controlled House Law and Justice Committee and the full House are expected to approve the same-gender marriage ban, said Rep. Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, chairman of the House panel that took testimony on the bill Wednesday. But he said Senate approval is unlikely.

In an interview, Lowry said he’d veto such legislation if it ever hit his desk.

The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Bill Thompson, R-Everett, said the driving force for the legislation is the possibility that Hawaii courts will 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 said.