The Washington State Senate has approved, by a 28-21 vote, a marriage-equality bill. That’s three votes higher than expected.
A vote in the State House is expected as early as next week, and Governor Christine Gregoire (right, seated) has indicated she will sign the measure into law. (Opponents are expected to launch a referendum effort to overturn it.)
Gregoire championed the measure at the start of the year, but it took some time to convince enough Democrats and two swing Republicans to vote yes on the issue. Major corporations headquartered in the state, like Microsoft and Starbucks, also endorsed the measure.
If Washington State passes marriage equality, which is likely, it will join Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont as a haven for same-sex marriage.
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Next on the slate: New Jersey, Maryland and Maine.
Photos: Equal Rights Washington
Triple S
It’s amazing how much attention this is getting for ONE STATE of a country that has FIFTY. Not to say that this is bad, it’s incredible! But why is it SOOOO hard for America to move forward without screaming all the way to hell. When gay marriage is allowed here in Australia, it’ll be a big thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’ll pass over without much fuss. The most that’ll happen is a few religious idiots will go crazy and then quieten dowm.
Well, I’ve always said; America is a land of extremes. You can’t get anything in the middle; it’s always gotta be a huge or a non issue.
That being said, I still love America. It’s my second home after Australia. <3
Kenster999
Nice pic — Hillary looks great!
Take-Back-Christopher-Street
America is an undeclared pro-corporatist pseudo-theocracy. It is a pathetic role model for the rest of the world to emulate. Besides the head-chopping Muslim and African savage bigots, the USA has a long, long history of human rights abuses — and it continues along that poisonous path with its daily institutionalized abuses of the GLBT community.
Phantom
Not celebrating yet until july
G
Great move Washington! But wait until after the inevitable referendum.
Dorothea from Germany
@Triple S: “America is a land of extremes. You can’t get anything in the middle; it’s always gotta be a huge or a non issue.”
I agree with you.
I am pretty sure that when we’ll get marriage equality in Germany, most straight people won’t even take notice of it. And if you tell them about it, they would be surprised and say, “What? But I thought same-sex couples were already allowed to get married!” That’s because registered partnerships are colloquially called “gay marriage” and most straight people mistake them for actual marriages.
By the way, it looks like the German centre-right party FDP will start supporting marriage equality. They plan to include the demand for marriage equality in their new party programme. That’s certainly because the party has really low approval ratings right now and is therefore desperately in need of voters. Including the FDP, Germany would then have 5 parties in favour of marriage equality. This means that there’s only one party, the Christian Democratic Union, which keeps opposing it. Yeah, these lovely god botherers.
Robert in NYC
No. 6, Scotland too is expected to pass marriage equality by the end of 2013. England and Wales by the end of 2015 or sooner once the consultation there beginning this March has concluded and legislation introduced and passed in Parliament. I think it’s inevitable in Germany, maybe France if the voters kick Sarkozy and his conservatives out, hopefully.
Mike in Asheville
@Take-Back-Christopher-Street: Is that racism and/or xenophobia lurking between your lines?
I don’t mind your short summary of American human rights history; it is highly accurate. We hunted and stole the lands of native peoples, then banished them to unlivable lands not unlike the Russian treatment of their Jews. We stole and purchased slaves from Africa. We practically stole and enslaved the Chinese to build our railroads, we enforced colonization in the Pacific, we unended democratic governments in South America. And as incredible as it seems, we financed the Shah of Iran, then we financed Saddam Hussein to fight Iran, while at the same time, we financed the Taliban and Osama bin Laden to fend against the Russians. So yeah, our human rights history is not worthy of role model status.
What I do mind, though, is your comment: “…the head-chopping Muslim and African savage bigots….” I don’t like them either. Nonetheless, the history of treatment of non-believers, women, and gays by the Catholics and the early Protestant churches were even much more savage: many many, estimated into the millions, were burned alive, others beheaded and spiked, while some were drawn and quartered (that is when they bound the victim to 4 horse, cracked the breast bone into quarters, and pulled the live victim apart).
The atrocities of the Khmer Rouge was just 40 years ago; Stalin death did not stop the atrocities of the Soviets, WWII is only 65 years ago with the atrocities by the Chinese, Japanese, Germans, and, in much smaller events, even by the Allies.
My point is, there are seemingly endless numbers from around the globe, irrespective of social, economic and religious backgrounds, of conduct by man against man that surely anyone who has a sincere belief in God cannot reconcile with God’s words (I am not religious, but Jesus NEVER took up arms against another, didn’t even suggest that others should; Mohammad INSTRUCTED his followers to NEVER impose their laws on non-believers.
***************
The effort for marriage equality is quite amazing. In the face of those who forebearers committed all those atrocities over thousands of years, we are, slowly, one state at a time, winning this battle of civil equality.
The history of thousands of years are against us as so are today’s religious zealots and hypocrites. Yet, we are winning the war for good hearts to prevail against evil hearts.
Certainly it appears that this will end up of the November ballot; prepare today. Bring it on, as they say, as, if not November, our time in coming quickly.
BEST WINNING STRATEGY: We are not going away. Like the fights for racial civil rights and woman’s suffrage, to ending the war in Vietnam, we cannot stop, will not stop. At every legislative session and every ballot vote, we will be there until we get our piece of equality. History and time are on our side; see you EVERY 2 YEARS until it does happen.
PopSnap
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republican party “unofficially” starts supporting gay marriage sometime this decade. It’s already happening; ten years ago, no Republican would be caught dead voting “Yea” on a gay rights referendum. Now, we have gay marriage laws that wouldn’t even be happening if it weren’t for the Republican vote and they are definitely profiting from their yes-votes.
Mike UK
@Mike in Asheville: well said!
Dorothea from Germany
@Robert in NYC: I know. I’ve read about it on the German queer news website. I just wonder why it takes so long in the UK. All parties agree that they want marriage equality. So why do they wait until 2013 or 2015? There can’t be this much to plan and prepare in advance. Just replace the words “husband” and “wife” with “spouse 1” and “spouse 2”. That’s all. It’s really frustrating that politicians are so fucking slow.
Take-Back-Christopher-Street
“@Mike in Asheville:” @Take-Back-Christopher-Street: Is that racism and/or xenophobia lurking between your lines?”
…Nope, no more than, I presume, there is anti-Christian and xenophobia lurking between your lines.
By the way, actually “drawing and quartering” (look it up) most generally involved (1) hanging first to the point of strangulation (also referred to as “drawing”) (2) followed by pulling out the intestines and showing them to the condemned (3) then castrating the condemned while still conscious and finally (4) chopping off the arms and legs (the quartering part) before beheading . Not too pretty a way to go.
Also, since you mentioned it, Islam allowed for the enslavement of “infidels” or non-Muslims by exploiting Old Testament Mosaic Law, which much of the Koran owes it’s authorship to as translated by Mohammad. So, while Islam was not “technically” forced on conquered people, those who did not convert were subject to enslavement. Why do you think there are so many Black Muslims in Africa in contrast to their original local tribal animistic beliefs prevailing? Both Islam and Christianity was forced upon them through one means or another.
In the Old Testament, Jewish law forbade enslaving those from your own religion or tribe. Christian fundamentalist in the old South did not wish for African slaves to be able to read or write because they might become Christians and it was more difficult for Slave-owners to justify owning another human being who was baptized as well being literate when their rationalization for owning slaves in the first place was that Black Africans were sub-human and didn’t posses souls. Even in the pre-fourteenth Amendment US Constitution it is clearly written that, for the purposes of congressional apportionment, Black Africans are only to be counted in the census as three-fifths of a human being and are not allowed American citizenship.
Human are notoriously chauvinistic when it comes to any group of “outlier” human beings who do not readily conform or “fit” into the prevailing tribal dynamics of the culture in which they live. Gays are just the latest victims, who have gotten global attention finally, and who are still struggling against that atrocity.
Dorothea from Germany
@Take-Back-Christopher-Street: May I ask where you are from?
Joetx
@Take-Back-Christopher-Street: Is this Isaac C, JayKay, etc.?
Being a racist and/or xenophobic gay person is just as bad as being a homophobe from a historically persecuted group.
Larry
christopher street…your “history” lesson seems to neglect moorish spain which was the most religiously tolerant and enlightened places in europe maybe even the planet at the time
iDavid
@Take-back-Chris and Mike in Ash,
It would be fascinating to replace the major violent false God religions with actual truth and see where things landed in the future of this planet. I can only assume such atrocities of which you speak were partially motivated by subconsciuous and conscious spiritual religious confusion brought on by corrupt data, which “Holy Books” are rife with.
As animals we surely rate to be the lowliest dumbest scum of the nature abiding food chain. Our religions and government only reflect that historically unwavering truth.
Mike in Asheville
@Take-Back-Christopher-Street: While I have nothing against Jesus and his teachings, I am definitely against Christians who, falsely, base their actions on Old Testament Laws of Moses instead of the teachings of Christ. One cannot be faithful to both.
My point in my first post to you is that I am tired of the easy pointing of fingers at Muslims and Africans without anyone looking into the mirror of our own forebearers. Certainly I am against the foul unholy treatment gays/lesbians receive at the hands of those Muslims and African who harbor such treatment against us.
Let us not pretend that there are not many ranking American religious and political leaders who openly advocate for an apartheid against gays, lesbians, trans, and bi’s.
iDavid
@Mike
“While I have nothing against Jesus and his teachings, I am definitely against Christians who, falsely, base their actions on Old Testament Laws of Moses instead of the teachings of Christ. One cannot be faithful to both.”
Bingo, this sums up the basic problem w Christianity and why hypocrisy rules. If ppl understood that one cannot fit unconditional love of Christ into the dualistic nature of a rampantly fear mongering demigod, we would not even be in this cultural war.
Unfortunately Jesus got smashed into Judaism against his will, and we are all dearly paying the price.