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Reply to "Goin' To The Chapel: The Lesbian, Gay & T/S Marriage Topic"

A small ray of hope. Refreshing. And a snappy judge!

quote:
Washington Judge Rules on Gay Marriage
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 7, 2004
Filed at 8:43 p.m. ET

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington's ban on same-sex marriage was struck down Tuesday by a second judge, who ruled that marriage is a fundamental right that should be available to gay men and lesbians.

The case in Thurston County, along with a similar ruling in King County, will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. One critic of the rulings said a drive to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage is all but guaranteed.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks held that Washington's constitution offers broad guarantees of equality. He said those guarantees are violated by the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman and bars same-sex civil marriage.

In the opinion, Hicks scoffed at what he called the ``Lilliputian view'' that marriage is meant just for male-female couples to have babies and raise children together.

He acknowledged the Legislature's intent was clear when it banned sex-sex marriage. But Washington's constitution, which offers broader protection of individual liberties than the federal Constitution, always trumps statute law, he said.

The state ``must take care to treat all its citizens in an equal way,'' he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case on behalf of 11 gay and lesbian couples from around the state.

Hicks' decision came just a month after a King County judge ruled in favor of eight gay couples. The cases will likely be consolidated before the state Supreme Court.

Attorneys said they expect Hicks to suspend the effect of his ruling during the appeal, meaning that there would be no loophole for gay couples to get licenses and marry during that time.

The ACLU and the couples involved in the case praised Hicks' ruling.

``I think the tide is turning,'' said Jeff Kingsbury, a community leader and artistic director of a theater company in Olympia. He and his partner, Alan Fuller, have been together for 12 years.

``Washington could have a significant place in leading the way to a new and more tolerant direction,'' he added.

Jeff Kemp, a former Seattle Seahawks football star who heads a pro-traditional marriage group called Families Northwest, said he was disappointed by the ruling.

``What is new here is the judge saying ... the morality of one class of people somehow trumps what society and an overwhelming bipartisan majority of elected officials have determined to be the definition of marriage in Washington,'' he said in a statement.

He said the two rulings all but guarantee a move to amend the state constitution.

The challenges were raised after Massachusetts, in May, became the first state in the nation to allow same-sex marriages.

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