Last year in late July the Washington State Supreme Court ruled by a 5-4 vote that the state's marriage laws did not impermissibly discriminate against same-sex couples.
On Tuesday, the Washington state senate passed Senate Bill 5336 by a vote of 63-35, sending the legislation to Governor Christine Gregoire who last year signed a non-discrimination bill inclusive of sexual orientation and indicated she would sign SB 5336. The bill would enact a domestic partnership registry and assign numerous rights and responsibilities to registered same-sex couples who share a home, are unmarried or not in another domestic partnership and at least 18 years old. SB 5336 is similar to California's Assembly Bill 205 which in 2003 became the nation's most comprehensive domestic partnership legislation.
Interestingly, the Washington State legislature now contains 5 openly gay or lesbian elected officials: State Senator Ed Murray and State Representatives James Moeller, Jamie Pedersen, Joseph McDermott and David Upthegrove.
Passage of a domestic partnership bill by such significant margins may be a precursor to enacting a marriage equality bill.
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