Washington Senate Passes Domestic Partnership Bill!
March 11, 2009
GREAT NEWS: The Washington State Senate passed on Tuesday night the Domestic Partnership Expansion bill of 2009 (Senate Bill 5688) by a vote of 30-18. The senate bill, whose lead sponsors are State Senators Murray and McDermott, now goes to the state house where are majority of members are co-sponsors. Governor Chris Gregoire, who signed the last two domestic partnership bills into law, has already stated that she supports the bill. If enacted, registered domestic partners will have all the rights and responsibilities of marriage under state law as LGBT advocates continue to pursue full marriage equality. All the legislators that were targeted by anti-LGBT advertisements stood strong and supported the bill - as did three Republicans and one senator who voted against domestic partnerships last session. HRC congratulates Equal Rights Washington for their leadership in bringing and expanding domestic partnerships in Washington State. Joshua Friedes, advocacy director at Equal Rights Washington, said "the debate over the domestic partnership bill has been an important vehicle to educate legislators and the public alike why gay and lesbian couples need and deserve the right to legally marry." HRC worked closely with Equal Rights Washington to mobilize HRC members and supporters throughout the state in support of Senate passage. More than 1,500 HRC members took action through HRC’s online action center. In addition, many HRC members attended Equal Rights Washington’s Equality Day at the State Capitol in Olympia to speak with their state legislators one-on-one. Also, the Washington State Senate passed a bill by a vote of 36-12 to add gender identity to the state's hate crimes law. The existing statute includes sexual orientation but not gender identity. This bill passed with substantial support from Republicans and conservative Democrats and now heads to the House. Josh Friedes gave kudos to the student organizations who took the lead in lobbying on the bill after several hate crimes on college campuses over the last year.
