"My Friends, Welcome to the Other Side of the Rainbow!" | Washington's Governor Signs the Gay Marriage Law

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/13/MN0H1N728P.DTL

San Francisco Chronicle...

.

Washington state legalizes same-sex marriage

Associated Press

Stephen Brashear / Getty Images

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire celebrates after signing marriage equality legislation into law at the Capitol in Olympia.

Olympia, Washington --

Wash. - Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory Monday, signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington, making it the seventh state in the nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

"I'm proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal," said Gregoire, a Democrat.

The law takes effect June 7, but opponents already are preparing to fight. They plan to file a referendum challenge that could put the law on hold pending the outcome of a November vote if they turn in enough signatures. Separately, an initiative was filed at the beginning of the session that opponents of gay marriage say could lead to the new law being overturned.

The state reception room at the Capitol was packed with hundreds of gay rights supporters and at least 40 lawmakers from the House and Senate. Sen. Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat who is gay and has sponsored gay rights legislation for years, told the cheering crowd: "My friends, welcome to the other side of the rainbow. No matter what the future holds, nothing will take this moment in history away from us."

Audrey Daye, of Olympia, cried as she watched Gregoire sign the bill into law. Daye, who grew up with two moms, brought her 7-year-old son, Orin, with her to watch the bill signing. "I am so proud that our state is on the right side of history," she said.

Gay marriage is legal in New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C. In California, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, but the ruling is on hold while the decision is appealed.
Senate OKs bill in New Jersey

New Jersey's state Senate on Monday passed a bill to recognize same-sex marriages, marking the first time state lawmakers officially endorsed the idea - despite the promise of a veto by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Monday's vote was 24-16 in favor of the bill, a major swing from January 2010, when the Senate rejected it 20-14. The state Assembly is expected to pass the bill Thursday.

Christie has said that such a fundamental change should be up to a vote of the people, and he has called for a referendum on the issue.

.

Source: Associated Press

This article appeared on page A - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/13/MN0H1N728P.DTL#ixzz1mLW124Yc

.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017500600_capitolhill14m.html

The Seattle Times...

.

Originally published Monday, February 13, 2012 at 8:51 PM

.

Songs and cheers mark signing of gay-marriage law for state

Seattle was the scene of celebration Monday night after Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill making same-sex marriage legal in Washington state.

By Bob Young

Seattle Times staff reporter

PHOTO:
Shey Ruud, facing camera, hugs Elizabeth Scallon before a toast at the Wild Rose, Seattle's main lesbian bar, as part of a statewide toast celebrating Washington allowing same-sex couples to marry Monday.

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

.

Rarely has a writing implement evoked such wild applause.

But when Pete-e Petersen held aloft a pen used to sign Washington state's gay-marriage law Monday, the crowd at Seattle's Plymouth Congregational Church erupted into the night's loudest standing ovation.

On stage were more than 300 singers, members of both the Seattle Men's Chorus and the Seattle Women's Chorus. Almost 1,000 more people packed into the pews.

Festivities began with The Beatles' anthem of innocent love, "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The Rev. Brigetta Remole, senior minister, then addressed those assembled.

"We (the church) believe God's love transcends all human distinctions," she said, adding, "I'd be honored to officiate at your wedding."

Paul Rosenberg said he and his partner, Eric Lane Barnes, planned earlier in the year to mark their 20th anniversary by getting married in Canada. But as momentum for gay marriage built among state lawmakers, Rosenberg said they decided to hold off.

Rosenberg said Monday night he felt giddy. "It's the first place I've lived where I felt represented," he said.

Daniel Jung and Richard Newman brought their 9-month-old son, Kaspian, to the church, where the toddler put up well with the heat, singing and speeches that went past his bedtime.

Jung said he and Newman are planning to be married Aug. 15, their anniversary. Of their son, he added: "I'm just happy he's going to grow up in a state that took the initiative to be equal."

The choruses then broke into "A Little Help From My Friends," another anthemic Beatles tune.

That's just what will be needed, Seattle City Council President Sally Clark said, to protect the same-sex marriage law from those who will try to rescind it.

Raising a glass of Champagne to "love, laughter and happily ever after," Clark, Seattle's first openly gay council president, sounded a rallying cry earlier in the evening at Capitol Hill's Wild Rose bar.

"Enjoy tonight," she told the group at the small bar. After that, "be busy, get out there, support this."

Clark and her partner, Liz Ford, have been together 14 years and are registered domestic partners. Clark said they are going to discuss whether marriage is right for them.

"But at least the law allows LGBT couples to have that conversation," she said.

Shelley Brothers, co-owner of Wild Rose, described her feeling about the events of the day as "happy, but guarded — because I know it will be a fight and get ugly."

Longtime domestic partners Vivian Robb and Que Areste were cautiously happy about the events of the day.

"It is a celebration, it is a milestone, it isn't a total victory," Robb said. "But we're extremely happy to have the opportunity to marry."

As to whether they actually would tie the knot: Que said, "We don't know; we're still talking about it."

"We originally said we wouldn't marry until it is a national right." said Robb, 67. "Now, I'm not sure I'll live that long."

.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/13/us/same-sex-marriage/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

CNN...

.

Washington, New Jersey move toward same-sex marriage

By Tom Watkins, CNN
updated 7:17 PM EST, Mon February 13, 2012

Click picture to play video

.

Washington same-sex marriage law signed

.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington's governor signs a bill approving same-sex marriage
New Jersey Senate approves a similar measure
But same-sex marriage remains uncertain in both states

.

(CNN) -- Proponents of same-sex marriage got a boost on two fronts Monday, when the governor of Washington signed a bill legalizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples and the New Jersey state Senate voted 24-16 in favor of a similar bill.

The New Jersey bill now goes to the Assembly, which is slated to vote Thursday. "We're cautiously optimistic" about its chances for passage, said Steven Goldstein, a spokesman for Garden State Equality, which has lobbied for the bill.

But the legislation is threatened in both states.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said last month that the issue "should not be decided by 121 people in the State House in Trenton." Instead, he favors a statewide referendum.

"I think that this is not an issue that should rest solely in my hands, in the hands of the Senate president or in the hands of the speaker or the other 118 members of the Legislature," he said. "Let's let the people of New Jersey decide what is right for the state."

If he vetoes the measure, "the battle for overriding the veto begins," Goldstein said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature to legislation legalizing same-sex marriage added her state to a list that includes Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, New York and the District of Columbia.

The law will go into effect in June, when the legislative session ends, but opponents have vowed to try to halt its implementation by putting it on the November ballot.

That possibility did not appear to dampen the spirits of those who attended the bill-signing ceremony.

"We have finally said yes to marriage equality," Gregoire said to applause moments before signing the bill. "It gives same-sex couples the same right to a marriage license as heterosexual couples."

She noted that churches are not required to perform same-sex marriages under the law and expressed confidence that, if put to a state-wide vote, Washingtonians would back the measure.

"I believe our Washingtonians will say yes because it's time for us to stand up for our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our moms and dads, our friends and the couple down the road," she said. "It is time to give our loving gay and lesbian couples the right to a marriage license in Washington state."

But the news for same-sex marriage advocates is not all positive. In states where legislators have passed Defense of Marriage Acts, which define marriage as being between a man and a woman only, they are taking defensive action. North Carolina is set to vote in a May primary election on such an act, and Minnesota is to hold such a vote in November.

In 2009, Maine legislators passed a same-sex marriage bill that drew challenges by opponents who pushed for a referendum that ultimately overturned the law with 53% of the vote. Proponents are trying to get it back on the ballot this year. Gay rights advocates have garnered thousands of signatures in an effort to force a second referendum in November.

In California, a 2008 public vote outlawed gay and lesbian couples' right to wed.

Two years later, a federal district court overturned the voter-approved measure known as Proposition 8, saying couples were unfairly denied their rights. A federal appeals court ruled last week against California's ban, arguing that it unconstitutionally singles out gays and lesbians for discrimination.

The ban has remained in place during the appeals process and could soon get a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Similar battles have unfolded in Maryland, where same-sex marriage opponents have pressed for referenda to counter bills that appear to enjoy growing support in their statehouse.

The National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage, predicted that the referenda will block the marriages from taking place.

"Ultimately, the people are going to decide, and we're confident that the people will vote to protect marriage as the union between a man and a woman," President Brian Brown said. "The legislature's decision is a decision against the will of the people."

Marriage, he said, is by definition the union of a man and a woman. "The state did not create that definition; the state merely recognizes it."

Statewide votes are not the way to handle the issue, according to Thalia Zepatos, director of public engagement for Freedom to Marry. "The question I like to pose to people is: Would you like the entire state to vote on whether you could marry your husband or wife?" she asked.

But the trend among Americans seems to be moving toward acceptance of the practice. A CNN/ORC International Poll carried out in September found that 53% of respondents said marriages between gay or lesbian couples should be recognized as valid, up from 44% in 2009. The poll had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

In September's poll, Democrats favored recognizing them as valid by 67% to 31%, independents by 53% to 46%. Just 30% of Republicans said they favored recognizing same-sex marriage as valid, versus 69% who did not. Those results had a sampling error of plus or minus 6 points.

.