R-71 in Washington state is a referendum putting it in the voters' hands to decide if the legislation,passed through both House and Senate and signed by the Governor, that gives most benefits/rights a married couple has
IS allowable to domestic partners. Mind you, it encompasses same-sex couples but also heterosexual couples where one individual is older than 62. The Bill, SB5688, R-71 is trying to defeat is in itself NOT about gay marriage but the rights of a registered domestic partnership.
"Gay marriage holds about 37 percent support in this state, according to a poll released last October by the University of Washington. Domestic partnerships—what R-71 actually applies to—have 66 percent support."
So if the approval is high for domestic partnerships how is this getting on the ballot? The proponents of R-71 are
making this a gay marriage issue. This state has a long way to go until gay marriage. SB5688 is the closest thing same-sex couples have to marriage without the actual title. But those who are against gay marriage are scared of how close this bill is to that dreaded M word.
"SB 5688 was packaged and presented to the legislature as a Domestic Partnerships expansion of benefits. In truth, it will demolish the state's historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life as Washington State will immediately become subject to litigation by same-sex partners demanding that the courts overturn the Defense of Marriage Act and impose "same-sex marriage" (as happened recently in California prior to Proposition 8)."
I can say i have a vested interest in gay marriage and I may have a biased opinion when I checked out protectmarriagewa.com, but there are some absurd points the site has put out there. My favorite "talking point" on the site:
"If same-sex marriage becomes the law in Washington, public schools K-12 will be forced to teach that same-sex "marriage" and homosexuality are perfectly normal."
When I discussed this with my husband (since we got married in Canada), he said public schools don't teach marriage to begin with, why would they teach same-sex marriage? Good counter-point.
On a final note, I watched Kathy Griffin: My life on the D-list where she went around asking people about Prop 8 and she asked one woman, who voted yes to the proposition, how it would affect her if gays are given the right to marry. After saying her decision was a moral thing, she didn't think gay marriage would actually affect her directly. Will it really affect you if I am given the right to be married to my man? Are you really horrified that schools may teach that a homosexual is just any other person? We have denounced the idea of women and other races as second-class citizens. Isn't it about time we do the same for same-sex couples?
My suggestions:
