Washington state likely next to allow same- sex marriage

If bill passes the state House, Gov. Chris Gregoire has said she will sign it, making Washington the seventh state to allow gay marriage.

Washington state may soon allow same- sex couples to wed — potentially the seventh state to take such a step in a growing nationwide debate.

Washington’s state Senate passed the bill 28- 21 Wednesday. This week, the bill goes to the House, where it is likely pass, said Sen. Ed Murray, a Democrat and the bill’s sponsor. Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, has said she will sign the bill if it makes it to her desk.

The other states that allow same- sex couples to wed are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New hampshire and new york. The District of Columbia also allows the practice.

“As state after state approves marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, it encourages more states,” said Murray, who is openly gay and has led changes in Washington’s gay rights and domestic partnership laws.

Washington’s bill may be challenged by opponents, who are expected to make a push to have the question of same- sex marriage put on the ballot in November, Murray said.

Pastor Joe Fuiten, one of the leaders of a campaign for a referendum that would overturn the bill, said he and others oppose the measure because it would change the definition of marriage and affect what children are taught in schools.

“Marriage is important and when somebody wants to change what marriage historically is, that has consequences,” said Fuiten, who heads the Cedar Park Assembly of God church in Bothell, Wash. “It has consequences to families and children going forward.”

Fuiten said the opponents’ camp in Washington is made of about 40 organizations and is growing.

Legislatures in New Jersey and Maryland are expected to debate same- sex marriage bills this year, said Jack Tweedie, who tracks same- sex marriage at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In California, the issue is in the courts.

Opponents of same- sex marriage in Minnesota and North Carolina have pushed to get referendums on constitutional amendments this year that would define marriage as between a man and a woman, Tweedie said.

Supporters of same- sex marriage in Maine have gathered enough signatures to put the question on the ballot in November, said Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry.

“We have to win states,” Solomon said. “Eventually, I think we will get to the place where either Congress or the courts will finish the job.”

By Joshua Trujillo, seattlepi. com, via AP Eye on debate: Kara Haney, left, and Kate Wertin embrace in Seattle’s Lobby Bar as the Washington state Senate passes a same- sex marriage bill.