HeraldNet: Senate passes domestic partners bill



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The Petri Dish

March 10, 2009

Senate passes domestic partners bill

Posted at 12:01 am by Jerry Cornfield

Emotional debate preceded the Senate's predictable passage Tuesday night of legislation extending rights to domestic partnerships already provided married couples.

The vote was 30-18.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the prime sponsor, provided his usual sharp and eloquent argument for the bill. He also made clear that despite charges from opponents, the legislation is not making marriage legal for same sex couples.

"I wish it was but it isn't," he said..

Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, was the first Republican to contend that "under this bill, domestic partnership equals marriage. We are passing the overturning of DOMA."

(DOMA is the Defense of Marriage Act enacted by the Legislature in 1998 defining marriage as between a a man and a woman. In 2006, the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law.)

Eight senators targeted in TV ads by the Washington Values Alliance voted for the bill.

Alliance president Larry Stickney issued a statement Tuesday night: It reads in part:

We are deeply saddened that this dangerous bill has passed the Senate.

While the 'gay-agenda' may be fashionable with a majority of legislators, we believe it is opposed by the majority of Washingtonians outside of Seattle city limits, many who deeply resent the codification of a radical social movement that contradicts the wisdom of the ages.

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