Washington To Vote On Marriage

Special Report - June 12, 2012
Marriage supporters in Washington State have successfully blocked a marriage redefinition law from going into effect until voters are given the opportunity to reject or accept the bill on their November ballots. Marriage supporters had until June 6 to gather and submit more than 120,000 valid signatures in favor of Referendum 74, the ballot question that asks voters to approve or reject the marriage redefinition bill. On June 6, Preserve Marriage Washington, the group leading the effort to prevent the marriage redefinition bill from going into effect, submitted 247,311 signatures in favor of Referendum 74.

The Washington legislature and governor approved SB 6239—Concerning Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships in February. The successful collection of signatures in favor of Referendum 74 prevented the bill from going into effect on June 7, as scheduled. Now, Washington voters will see the following question on their November ballots: “The legislature has passed Senate Bill No. 6239 concerning the definition of marriage and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill. This bill would redefine marriage from a civil contract between one man and one woman to a 'civil contract between two persons' and makes 'husband' and 'wife' gender-neutral terms. Should this bill be: [] Approved [] Rejected"

The ballots will include a description of SB 6239 as a law that “would redefine marriage from being between one man and one woman to any two eligible persons regardless of sex. It construes terms like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ to be gender-neutral. The bill permits minors to marry a person of the same sex by waiver of a superior court judge. The relationships of same-sex domestic partners under the age of 62 that are not dissolved by 2014 are converted to marriages.”

Should voters approve SB 6239 in the November referendum, Washington will become the eighth state in the nation plus the District of Columbia to redefine marriage, joining Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Maryland. Pro-family advocates in Maryland are trying to prevent a recently passed marriage redefinition law from going into effect as scheduled in January 2013 by a similar referendum effort as seen in Washington.

“We are pleased that the voters of Washington will have a say in the matter and not have marriage redefinition foisted upon them by legislators,” said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “We are hopeful that the voters of Washington will join North Carolina voters in choosing to protect the institution of marriage from redefinition.”

Related resources:
Marriage Amendment Hearing Denied - June 7, 2012
NC Marriage Amendment Now Official - May 25, 2012
Colorado Civil Unions Bill Dies - May 16, 2012
NJ Gov. Vetoes Marriage Redefinition Bill - February 20, 2012
Marriage Battle in WA State Not Over - February 16, 2012
The Gold Standard - FNC - Winter 2012
2011 Legislative Marriage Battles - August 24, 2011
Rhode Island Allows Civil Unions - July 5, 2011
New York Redefines Marriage - June 27, 2011
Delaware Approves Civil Unions - April 19, 2011
Marriage Battle Rundown - February 2, 2011
The Issue That Will Not Go Away - FNC Spring 2010

Copyright © 2012. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.