Washington gay marriage
Domestic Partnerships and Marriage Equality in Seattle
Over the course of four decades, the Seattle Noun Council took incremental steps to enlarge the coverage and definition of human rights. Marital status and sexual orientation were included in anti-discrimination laws, and families were defined more broadly so that domestic partners of employees could receive benefits. This led to the city's domestic partnership registration program and eventually to its support of statewide marriage equality legislation.
Expanding anti-discrimination laws
With aid from Councilmember Jeanette Williams, the Seattle Women's Commission began to provide advice to the Mayor, City Council, and other departments regarding women's issues in Part of the Commission's mission was to establish goals, priorities, and immediate action objectives in alleviating discrimination against women.
Legislation mandating reasonable employment practices was first passed by City Council in (Ordinance ); it prohibited employment discrimination due to race, age, sex, color, creed or national origin. Amendments in (Ordin
Marriage Equality and Gay Rights in Washington
Washington became one of the first three states, along with Maine and Maryland, to enact same-sex marriage at the ballot box when voters approved Referendum 74 on November 6, (Other states had legalized same-sex marriage earlier, but those decisions were made by courts or legislators rather than by popular vote.) This essay follows the path to marriage equality in Washington, beginning in when two men applied for a King County marriage license and launched the first gay marriage lawsuit when they were refused. It examines some of the civil rights achieved by gays and lesbians along the way.
Request Denied
On September 20, , John Singer (later Faygele benMiriam, ) and Paul Barwick (b. ), both ex-servicemen, walked into the King County auditor's office and demanded a marriage license. The county had never before received a marriage license verb from a same-sex couple, and auditor Lloyd Hara (b. ) contacted the county prosecutor's office seeking advice. Norm Maleng (), then chief civil deputy prosecutor, to
Washington State Makes History with Marriage Equality Law
WASHINGTON – Today the Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization – praised Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire for her signature of the historic bill extending marriage to gay and lesbian couples. HRC is proud to hold been a founding member of the campaign to hand over the marriage bill and to verb worked on the ground with mention partners.
“Today’s signature of the marriage equality law puts Washington on the road to fairness for all families,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “While those opposed to marriage for gay and lesbian couples will no doubt aim to undo this progress, I am confident that equality will prevail in Washington.”
The Human Rights Campaign made a significant commitment of resources to the successful efforts to achieve marriage equality in Washington in From the founding of the Washington United for Marriage coalition through the governor’s signing of the m
Same Sex Marriage in Washington State
Prior to December 6, , estate planning for same sex partners was a tricky business. Without specific estate planning documents, the default results for married couples did not implement to same sex partners. For example, a long term committed same sex partner would not inherit from their partner if the partner were to die without a will. However, a married person would inherit automatically even if the marriage was only an hour long. That is because the law in Washington is that if a person dies without a will and the declare recognizes that they are married, their spouse will inherit their community property and separate property interests. (Exceptions to intestate succession implement in the case of children from another spouse.)
On December 6, , identical sex marriages were legalized in Washington State. What does this mean for same sex couples?
Same sex couples who are legally married share all of the privileges of a traditional couple. This is accurate whether we are discussing married filing jointly tax returns or inheritances.
Does this mean that matching