Governor’s Endorsement Boosts Drive for Marriage Bill

Published: 
Thursday, January 5, 2012

At a press conference in Olympia yesterday, Governor Chris Gregoire issued a heart-felt endorsement of civil marriage for same-sex couples. The Governor talked of the need for state law to recognize the “love, commitment, partnership, and responsibility” of lesbian and gay couples. She also acknowledged that coming to support legal marriage for all couples has been a “personal journey” for her.

We appreciate that the Governor took the journey toward fairness and equality for all people. Let’s hear it for elected officials who are open to changing their minds and stretching themselves to do what is right, not what is easy. 

Gregoire pointed out that same-sex couples face the same hurdles as all couples seeking to build a strong family. “How can we tell some children that their parents’ love is less equal than that of others,” she declared. “Having loving, committed couples of any orientation can only help us,” she added.

In a statement issued today by Washington United for Marriage – a coalition in which the ACLU-WA is playing a leading role – members of two same-sex couples explained why marriage matters to them:

"My partner and I have been together 22 years, and our family is very similar to those of my friends and colleagues," said Jennifer Cast, a longtime Washington resident who wishes to marry.  "We work hard to create a productive and happy life for ourselves and our family.   We cherish the good times and console each other during hard times.  We share each other's challenges, sorrows, triumphs, and joys, just like any other couple.  We want our love and commitment to be valued and recognized equally in our state." 

“When I tell people that Rudy and I have a domestic partnership, they really don’t understand what that means,” said John McCluskey, a longtime resident of Tacoma.  “We’ve been together for 53 years and I couldn’t imagine spending my life with anyone else.  The thought that people don’t understand that our family faces the same struggles and the same triumphs as any other family in our state is heartbreaking.” 

The Governor urged the legislature to make Washington the seventh state to recognize marriage for same-sex couples under state law – following the lead of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, plus the District of Columbia.

The state Legislature has been on its own journey toward full acceptance of lesbian and gay relationships. In 2007 it passed a domestic partnership law which provided hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations, and inheritance rights when there is no will.  In 2009, the Legislature passed and voters statewide later upheld a bill that expanded those rights to include all the rights and responsibilities that heterosexual couples have – "everything-but-marriage.” Senior couples 62 and older can register as domestic partnerships as well. Nearly 19,000 people in Washington are registered as domestic partners.  Most of them would probably prefer to be married.