On Monday, May 18, the Montlake Community center was packed with politicians, journalists, and same-sex couples with their children who gathered around a table at the far side of the room. They had come to watch and celebrate as Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into action new legislation that expands the rights of same-sex domestic partners.
The measure, SB 56 88, grants registered domestic partners the same rights of married couples. It serves as an expansion to Washington's previous domestic partnership statute signed two years ago, which provided 160 rights out of the 400 or so rights of married couples.
Gregoire said the measure represented years of work within her administration to further the rights of the LGBTQ community.
"This represents the culmination of incredible work to treat all Washingtonians equally," Gregoire said in a statement. "People have come to know that lesbian and gay families are no different than their own. […] Despite the sameness of straight couples and gay and lesbian couples, there are, in fact, legal barriers that prevent the same treatment."
At Seattle University, law professor Julie Shapiro, an expert in family law and gay rights, said the new legislation was an expected next step for Washington and the gay marriage debate.
"It's part of a long term strategy that has been pretty clearly spelled out," Shapiro said. "It's in line with what about a dozen other states have done, which is creating a parallel institution that is not marriage, but an interim step."
The step happened more rapidly than Shapiro and many advocates for gay marriage expected.
"I think a lot of change happened more quickly than people thought possible," Shapiro said. "It has made people rethink what they thought was a reasonable time-line [for gay marriage].
"It will be an interesting thing to pay attention to how quickly people more forward. Clearly the intention here is that the next step is marriage," she added.
Maria Bullon-Fernandez, Seattle University English professor and advocate for gay marriage, said the legislation was a big step forward but there is still some hesitation within the government regarding the issue.
"It is interesting to reflect on the fact that the term 'marriage' is not being used," she said. "There is still great resistance to using this term even though, at this point, for all practical purposes, domestic partners enjoy the same rights as married spouses at the state level."
Opponents of the new law have drafted Referendum 71, released May 18 by the state Attorney General's office. If proponents collect more than 120,500 valid voter signatures by July 25, the new law will be suspended until voters decide on it during the November election.
Gary Randall, president of the Faith and Freedom Network which created Referendum 71, told the Seattle Times his organization wants to repeal the law to prevent legalizing gay marriage in Washington. But his group's efforts were delayed after it filed a challenge to change the wording and summary for how the referendum would appear on the ballot. Signatures cannot be collected until the challenge is resolved.
But Shapiro said groups who oppose the bill are less organized than those in the past.
"Right now the degree to which this legislation faces opposition is actually somewhat up in the air," she said. "The conservative movement is not necessarily as united on this as they have been in the past."
Whether or not the new legislation will be sent to voters will be decided after the July 25 deadline. In the meantime, same-sex couples are celebrating this step closer to equality, although Bullon-Fernandez says there is still work to be done.
"While the fact that Washington state is recognizing fully the rights of same-sex couples is a great step forward, this does not mean that gay couples are equal under the law in our state or anywhere else in the United States at this point," she said. "There are still numerous and fundamental rights that gay couples do not have because their marriages and partnerships are not recognized under federal law."
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