Washington State Gay Marriage

[themattperry]

Hi All,

I wanted to ask a question about an issue important in my state, and see if anyone had any additional information (any other Seattle/Washington people on here?)

For the last six months or so, we've been expecting "any day now" a state supreme court decision that will determine whether gay marriage becomes legal here in Washington. If the decision comes down in our favor, we will be the second state to recognize marriage equality, after Mass. The mysterious part is the delay in releasing the decision ... we keep expecting it any week and it never seems to come ... my question: does anyone know why?

Anyway, this might be a good place to discuss the status of gay marriage in your state, or to reflect in whatever way you want. In our state, we are all waiting with baited breath ... and waiting and waiting and waiting ....

[NonLemming]

Here in SC, we are waiting with Neanderthal breath. Good for you, Washington, I hope it passes.

Wish us luck here in the stone age.

[tdogg]

Here in (finally) sunny California, we have the domestic partnership rights, which offer pretty much everything except for tax benefits. That's a good thing, but then not because the CA citizens seem to feel that, hey, the gays have pretty much the same rights as straights who can be legally married, and heck, they should be happy they have that.

Our lawmakers (senate/assembly) passed a same-sex marriage bill last year, but our Gov (yup, Arnold himself) vetoed it, stating that California citizens have indicated they are not 'for' same sex marraige, and also because of a lawsuit currently on the table regarding the same.

So, CA is progressive, yet simultaneously regressive, if that makes sense.

[Joe Brummer]

I just watched the state senate hearingd for gay marriage in RI. My only note about the testimonies was that it was interesting that when you go to church to hear about the bible, you end up hearing politics. When you go to the State House to hear about politics, you end up hearing the bible.

WHat is wrong with this picture?

[Jennifer5]

I exactly what you mean Joe... what happened to seperate of church and state?

Matt, sorry to say I don't really know what's going on. Which I thought I would... living here myself. Kind of weird that there isn't more news about this... I know we have a good govenor... I think if it gets to her, she'll pass it. In this area she'll have a lot of angry people if she doesn't. Seattle and Bainbridge Island at least... and they can make a big scene. Hope that we hear more about this.

[Zerbie]

It's a huge scary mess here in Arizona. We will (probably) be voting on a marriage ban in November, assuming the proponents get all their signatures in on time.

A guy I know tried to organize a protest against the amendment's sponsors for this evening, since tonight was a big fancy dinner party for its supporters (as an interesting aside, their honored guest speaker tonight is Oliver North), but unfortunately the protest was cancelled.

Every time gay families make an advance towards legal equality anywhere in the world, our local adversaries re-double their fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and signature gathering saying it just "proves" how badly a marriage amendment is needed.

Personally, and some may get pissed off at me for saying this, I hope WA doesn't rule on this issue at all until after the June 5th congressional vote on the Federal marriage "protection" amendment. The last thing I want to see before that vote comes up is an excuse for a backlash. Anti-gay sentiment is about all certain political figures have to count on this election cycle. We can wait three and half more weeks, right?

And as I'm so fond of saying, what a huge mess!

[Vanessa White]

In Pennsylvania, as Keltic has posted of before, legislators want to amend the constitution just to be sure that us gay folks know they don't want any of that kind of business here, even though for years now, there has been a Defense of Marriage Act here, which only allows marriage between a man and a woman.

[keltic63]

Originally Posted by Vanessa White

In Pennsylvania, as Keltic has posted of before, legislators want to amend the constitution just to be sure that us gay folks know they don't want any of that kind of business here, even though for years now, there has been a Defense of Marriage Act here, which only allows marriage between a man and a woman.

there has been no action on this bill yet, and the House of Reps is in recess until June 5th. PA peeps: contact your representative to express your opinion on this bill.

A friend of mine works in Domestic Violence and has scheduled a meeting with one of the State Senators (a similar bill is making its way to the state senate) because this kind of law prevents some unmarried straight couples from taking advantage of the legal system for protection from abuse. It's already happened in Ohio.

[suzer1013]

We're pretty much just doomed here in Georgia.

Susan

[themattperry]

Thanks everyone for your input ... interesting point about June 5th ... I'm not sure what is holding up the ruling here in Washtington, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Jennifer .. glad to see another WA person here. Our Governor is generally supportive, and so is the supreme court. The court has already ruled that gay people can adopt children and have visitation, and also that they are generally subject to divorce proceedings. So all signs look good. We just have this mysterious delay. My own theory is that the court has already decided and is delaying its announcement for some administrative purpose, such as to allow the counties time to get ready to issue same-sex marriage liscences. Upon reflection, this seems unlikely however.

I'd love to hear more from all ... and for those of you in places where you're "doomed" ... i feel for you. But, the more blue states that become marriage-affirming, the harder it will become for your states to hold out.

Keep your fingers crossed.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Vanessa White

In Pennsylvania, as Keltic has posted of before, legislators want to amend the constitution just to be sure that us gay folks know they don't want any of that kind of business here, even though for years now, there has been a Defense of Marriage Act here, which only allows marriage between a man and a woman.

Exactly the condition here in Arizona. The state constitutional amendment is redundant in the matter of same sex marriages, all it will do is eliminate currently existing domestic partner benefits and outcast unmarried straight couples, depriving them of domestic violence protections, as Keltic points out. These amendments are VERY malicious. We need to tell everyone we know what these things will really do (such as they are already doing in Ohio.)

[Mia14]

I know it's not legal in our silly Pennsylvania.

I'm still going to have a ceremony, like some of you say you have, and get married when the situation fits. I'm still going to call it a marriage so that all those conservatives on their second and third marriages will have something positive to inspire them.

But I still wish the people would see our love and let it be legal..

[Vanessa White]

Don't forget, Mia, that Massachusetts will sometimes issue a license to you there, depending on the clerk, even if you are not a resident, as long as you express intent on moving to their state within the next year. Also, Vermont does civil unions, and maybe that is where I will be heading someday, or Connecticut also grants them to us now, civil unions that is. I can picture myself in that veil now..... which gives me an idea for a new thread.... more on that later.....

[Emproph]

I’m in Florida (it finally rained), and they’re still trying to gather enough signatures to get an anti-gay amendment on the ‘08 ballot, so worst case scenario I’ve got two years.

Beyond their standard insult; “this isn't about discrimination it's about protecting marriage (family, children etc.)," the wording of these amendments leaves no room for doubt. Language not far from ‘no rights that even resemble those of marriage shall ever be recognized outside of...’

One thing I’ve found consistent in these sites is their connections to Focus on the Family, it’s minions, and/or the other well known major hate group players. The research and the lies are all the same and are virtually all coming from these same sources.

{These are not individual state amendments, it’s a concerted effort by the same handful of people and organizations.}

They continually repackage the same lies. Though actually I consider that hopeful and a lesson to be taken for the future. We just have to continue to explain how those lies have been repackaged, by whom and why. At least it simplifies things for us, and furthermore I think it’s already working.

Effort-wise, It’s the difference between writing the book and writing the book review. We have to recognize that the review can be more powerful than the book. Especially when you have truth on your side. And actually we don't just have the truth on our side, we have the truth of lies on our side. <(wow, I like that one ) <(I need a T-shirt with that guy on it ) <(and him on the back )

I’m working on a letter to the editor and I’m trying to focus better on the framework. Like the divorce/adultery/remarriage hypocrisy (-as in Ricks thread “When Jesus Was Gay”), or their attack on the children of gay Americans in the name of protecting children, or their use of "studies" conducted for the intention of legitimizing lies, etc., not to mention how they consider all that to be Christian behavior.

What occurs to me is that all these local issues could be fought better by better referring to the whole of the situation. Not only would we get our local/personal point across, but the impact on those who are open enough to listen would be that much more significant. Speaking of the injustice going on in "ten others states as well" is the type of thought imagery that sets up shop.

If you’re interested, this is a Citizen Link (FOF) action newsletter that lists and links to the various websites in charge of the amendments or legislation in each state. It’s from April ‘05 but most of the links still work.

http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0036194.cfm

[themattperry]

More info on Washington:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/...gcenter15.html

In short, it seems like our supreme court might be sitting on their opinion until after the November elections, and also might be taking extra time to harmonize their opinions. I still think it will come out favorably, however.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Emproph

Beyond their standard insult; “this isn't about discrimination it's about protecting marriage (family, children etc.)," the wording of these amendments leaves no room for doubt. Language not far from ‘no rights that even resemble those of marriage shall ever be recognized outside of...’

One thing I’ve found consistent in these sites is their connections to Focus on the Family, it’s minions, and/or the other well known major hate group players. The research and the lies are all the same and are virtually all coming from these same sources.

{These are not individual state amendments, it’s a concerted effort by the same handful of people and organizations.}


m[/URL]

Oh goodness yes. It has long been so. I forget there are people who don't know that. We need to share this information with them. That's an important point - helping people to understand that marriage amendments are part of a larger organized move to erode the separation of church and state. Much of this is currently funded by Dobson. Dunno if you ever looked at that video I mentioned with Glenn Stanton, one of Dobson's golden ones, and the "marriage expert" at FOF. I'd love to see you rip holes in his best arguments, Emproph dear. Sic 'em. Grrrrr.

Now E, when you get your points organized for letters to the editor, contact your friends and each of you write a letter addressing one or two of the points and all of ya send 'em in. Better to have 4 or 5 letters from different people dividing up the talking points than to have one unwieldy long letter from one person. I don't know if Naples cares about opinions from Arizona or I would offer to collaborate on a letter with ya.

Glad that it rained for ya. Now, perhaps, you will kindly send some water over here. It's 103F degrees, 4% humidity, and there is bird poo collecting all over the mailbox which needs to be washed off by a good rain.

Thanks for doing all that you're doing, Emproph!