Washington Senate Passes Comprehensive Domestic Partnership Bill
March 10, 2009 by Bryan
Same-sex domestic partners would have all of the rights and benefits that Washington offers married couples under a measure passed Tuesday night by the Senate.
Supporters of the bill said it offers same-sex couples fairness that has been denied them under the state’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to unions between a man and woman.
“You have denied us that right,” said bill sponsor Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, one of six openly gay lawmakers in the Legislature. “Do not deny us the right to care for our families and build our lives.”
The bill passed on a mostly party-line 30-18 vote and now heads to the House. The Senate rejected two Republican amendments, including one that would have sent the measure to voters.
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The bill expands on previous domestic partnership laws by adding reference to partnerships alongside all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned, statutes ranging from labor and employment to pensions and other public employee benefits.
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Yippee! Look at me, getting all worked up over something that should have been already.