Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in the U.S. state of Washington since December 6, 2012. On February 13, 2012, Governor Christine Gregoire signed legislation that established full marriage rights for same-sex couples in the state of Washington. Opponents mounted a challenge that required voters to approve the statute at a referendum, which they did on November 6. The law took effect on December 6, and the first marriages were performed on December 9. Within a couple of days, more than 600 marriage licenses were issued to same-sex couples in King County alone. Washington was the seventh U.S. state, and the eighth U.S. jurisdiction (after the District of Columbia), to legalize same-sex marriages. Polling suggests that a large majority of Washington residents support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Prior to legalization in December 2012, the Washington State Legislature had enacted a law recognizing domestic partnerships providing some of the rights and benefits of marriage in 2007.
Previously, in 1998, the state had enacted a statute that restricted marriage to different-sex couples, reinforcing its statutes which had been interpreted by a state court in 1974 as imposing the same restriction. Several lawsuits filed in state court challenged the state's marriage laws without success, including one filed in 1971, one of the first such cases in the United States.
Legal history Restrictions In September 1996, in response to events in Hawaii—including the Baehr v. Miike decision—which suggested that the state might legalize same-sex marriage, the United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between "a man and a woman" and explicitly permitted states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. In conjunction with dozens of other states as part of a nationwide legal panic following the events in Hawaii, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill in February 1997 that defined marriage as the "union of a man and a woman" and denied legal recognition to same-sex marriages established elsewhere. The vote was 63 to 35 in the House and 27 to 19 in the Senate. Governor Gary Locke vetoed the legislation on February 21, calling it "divisive and unnecessary", citing the 1974 state court decision in Singer v. Hara. He wrote in his veto message: "Our overarching principle should be to promote civility, mutual respect and unity. This legislation fails to meet this test." An attempt to override his veto failed in the Senate on a party-line vote, 26 to 20, when seven Democrats who had originally supported the measure changed their position to support Governor Locke. Although Republicans threatened to put the issue to a popular referendum in November, some of their members thought the issue was not urgent enough to risk a contentious public campaign.
In February 1998, the State Legislature passed the same legislation as House Bill 1130, and expected Governor Locke to allow it to become law without his signature. Instead, he vetoed it a second time, saying that "our laws right now prohibit same-gender marriages, and I oppose this legislation because it is trying to make illegal something that is already illegal". The State Legislature overruled his veto. Democrats who feared the impact of having the legislation on the November ballot helped override his veto. One Democratic leader in the House, Marlin Appelwick, said: "I'll vote to override. I'll stand up and say it's a bad bill, but it's even worse to have this issue on the ballot." According to The Seattle Times: "Lawmakers, eager to be done with the controversial issue, rushed the ban through in minutes and dumped it in the governor's lap. Locke's veto came within the hour. Then both houses voted summarily to override the veto. No one could remember the last time a bill was passed, vetoed and overridden within hours–with almost no discussion and no debate."
Lawsuits
Singer v. Hara In 1971, in Seattle, in one of the first same-sex marriage lawsuits in the United States, gay activists John Singer (later known as Faygele Ben-Miriam) and Paul Barwick requested a marriage license from the King County Auditor, Lloyd Hara, to demonstrate the inequality between gay and heterosexual couples. Hara refused, and Singer and Barwick brought suit on the grounds that the denial violated the Equal Rights Amendment of the State Constitution. The Washington Court of Appeals denied the claim in 1974 in Singer v. Hara, and the Washington Supreme Court later refused to review the decision."Gay Marriage’s Jewish Pioneer", Eli Sanders, The Tablet, June 6, 2012 .Washington Court of Appeals: Singer v. Hara, May 20, 1974
Andersen v. King County
On March 8, 2004, six same-sex couples represented by Lambda Legal filed suit in state court challenging the constitutionality of Washington's statutory same-sex marriage ban. The four constitutional claims were based on due process, privacy, equal protection and gender equality. On August 4, King County Superior Court Judge William L. Downing issued an opinion in Andersen v. Sims that the state had no rational basis for excluding same-sex couples from the rights and benefits of marriage. The decision concluded that the state law limiting marriage to different-sex couples violated sections of the Constitution that required due process and equal protection of the laws. The court did not require the state to allow same-sex couples to marry, but mandated the creation of a civil union status that would provide all the rights and benefits of marriage. Downing stayed enforcement of his order pending appeal to the Washington Supreme Court. On April 1, 2004, eleven same-sex couples represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit in state court challenging Washington's laws banning same-sex marriage. They also sought recognition of marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions. On September 7, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard D. Hicks ruled in Castle v. State that the state's marriage laws violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the State Constitution.
The Washington Supreme Court consolidated the two cases, Andersen v. Sims and Castle v. State, for review as Andersen v. King County. It heard oral arguments on March 8, 2005. On July 26, 2006, it reversed the trial courts' determinations in a 4–5 ruling. The majority opinion focused on the constitutionality of the State Legislature's enactment of the statutory ban limiting the privileges of marriage to opposite-sex couples. In October 2006, the court refused to reconsider its ruling."Anderson v. King County", Lambda Legal
On January 10, 2007, the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance, an activist organization that, despite its name, favored marriage rights for same-sex couples, filed a voter initiative, Initiative 957, to incorporate part of the Andersen decision into state statutes by making procreation a requirement for all marriages in Washington. The group's stated rationale was to prompt public examination of the premise that marriage exists for the purpose of procreation and to create a test case in which Andersen would be reversed. The initiative's sponsors withdrew it on July 3, after failing to gather a sufficient number of signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Same-sex marriage law Domestic partnerships and early bills
Advocates of marriage rights for same-sex couples, lacking the votes in the State Legislature to accomplish their objective, instead focused on enacting domestic partnerships that would grant couples some of the rights attached to marriage. A law to this effect was approved by the State Legislature in 2007. This legal status was also made available under certain circumstances to different-sex couples. The legislation took effect on April 22, 2007. A same-sex marriage bill was also introduced in the 2007 legislative session, but failed to make it out of committee.
Passage and promulgation
On January 26, 2012, legislation legalizing same-sex marriage and converting most domestic partnerships not dissolved within two years into marriages passed the Washington State Senate's Committee for Government Operations, Tribal Relations and Elections. Republican Dan Swecker introduced four amendments that failed on a party-line vote of 3–4. Republican Don Benton asked for the legislation to be placed on the November 2012 ballot as a referendum, but his motion failed by a 3–4 vote. The bill was reported out of the committee by a 4–3 vote. It passed the Senate by a vote of 28–21 on February 1.
The House of Representatives took up the same measure and passed it out of the Judiciary Committee on January 30 by a 7–6 party-line vote. The committee voted on the Senate-approved version of the bill on February 6, passing it by a 7–5 vote, with one Republican committee member absent. The House passed the legislation on February 8 by a vote of 55–43. The legislation also provided that all domestic partnerships not involving at least one member aged 62 years or older and not dissolved within two years of the date the law would go into effect would automatically become marriages. Governor Christine Gregoire signed the bill into law on February 13. It was scheduled to take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
+February 1, 2012 vote in the Senate Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Absent (Did not vote) Democratic Party – Republican Party – Total 21 0
+February 8, 2012 vote in the House of Representatives Political affiliation Voted for Voted against Absent (Did not vote) Democratic Party – Republican Party – Total 43 0
Referendum
Opponents of the legalization of same-sex marriage delayed the bill's implementation by collecting the signatures necessary to put the measure to a popular vote on November 6, 2012, as Referendum 74. In that referendum, voters approved the law by a 54–46 percent margin. The law took effect on December 6. Because Washington requires a three-day waiting period (excluding the day of issue) before a marriage license may be signed, the first same-sex marriages in the state took place on December 9, 2012. Among the first couples to obtain marriage licenses were Lisa Brodoff and Lynn Grotsky in Olympia, the state capital, early on Thursday morning, December 6. In Seattle, about 150 same-sex couples lined up outside Seattle City Hall shortly before midnight, "waiting in a festive atmosphere for the doors to open" to obtain marriage licenses. Jane Abbott Lighty and Pete-e Petersen were the first couple to obtain a license in King County.
The definition of marriage in the state of Washington is now the following: Title 26 Chapter 26.04
Developments after legalization Three years after Referendum 74, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide with its Obergefell v. Hodges ruling on June 26, 2015. State Senator Jamie Pedersen welcomed the decision, "There's a great sense of peace that this is finally over after all these years. [...] There's a lot more work to do both here in our state and even more nationally. We know a hugely disproportionate number of homeless youth are LGBT." Mayor of Seattle Ed Murray said "[he had] never imagined this day", while Tom Rasmussen, a member of the Seattle City Council, said, "This day is a dream. It seems like an impossible dream."