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Tuesday, July 25, 2006

BREAKING: Washington Gay Marriage Decision Coming Tomorrow

Posted by on July 25 at 12:47 PM

According to the State Supreme Court web site.


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Hold onto your hats and bonnets

I don't think WA queers should be optimistic about the ruling. They will probably follow the national trend.

I agree with Lisa.

Washington tends to go its own quirky way on things at times, so it will be interesting to see. Let's hope the fair-minded pragmatists win.

Are there enough consistent court opinions to qualify as a "trend" yet?
Gay marriage is coming for dead sure, whatever this court says this time.

i predict they'll punt to the legislature, which will throw every election into a tailspin before november. then there will be a heated fight next session, guaranteed.

I predict that they will reenact the miscegenation laws and legalize 11 year olds getting married again.

oh, woops, sorry, was thinking this was a red state.

never mind.

I also agree with Lisa and Dan. I will be pleasantly surprised if the justices come down for gay marriage

I consider that I've been married for nine years without state recognition. I will still be married tomorrow whatever the court says. Married queers have lived and died before me without so much as a nod from the state.

If the WA Supco decides that Washington is a bit less retarded than the rest of this fucked up nation of ridge browed Jesus freaks and toothless lard asses, well, yay for us. If not, well, my marriage will just have to remain above the law.

Exactly. "Marriage" is an extra-governmental rite that has some governmental recognition. Right-wing christians who marry do not consider their marriage to derive from state power, and neither should gays. If you think you're married, you're married. Everything else is civil rights, which is a different subject. These rights are denied now, but not forever.

There will be a bunch of events happening this week, regardless of the outcome of the decision. Tomorrow (Wednesday) there will be a rally at Seattle 1st Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave at 5:30 pm. And Marriage Equality Now is planning a second community gathering for this coming Sunday afternoon -- more details on that will be coming soon.

You can follow the latest events and such on ERW's website:
http://www.equalrightswashington.org/events/decision.html

And here are some FAQ's about the upcoming decision, which will be updated tomorrow morning once the actual decision comes out:
http://lmaw.org/wacourtdecision

I am so conflicted on this...part of me actually wants to court to rule against it so it helps to defuse that whole "activist judge" crap. But then I guess that means the terrorists win.

Hell, I can barely get a date, let alone get married...I just hope if they do rule against it they have more elegance and logic in their decision than the NY Supremes did.

It is a judicial election year. The incumbents in races know they have liberal Seattle votes locked up. They need to burnish credentials in the eyes of those across the aisle. I'm afraid the Def. of Marriage Act will be upheld.

Soccer Todd: you just stated the New Republic argument. They think that gay marriage is inevitable, and that positive court opinions hurt, not help.

Soccer Todd:
No court decision will satify the element that cries "activist judge". Not now, not ever. It's like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. It doesn't matter what the documented facts are, just who's on the defensive.

I think they'll declare it unconstitutional - I mean, you can't have a class of citizens that have fewer rights than other citizens, not constitutionally - but they'll also defer it to the legislature to decide what to do. Because after all, someone somewhere might not like it.

*rolling eyes*

I'm so tired of all three branches of government doing what is expedient, or what polls tell them is currently popular, instead of what is RIGHT. If Harry Truman had listened to these kind of nimrods, we'd never have gotten an integrated military. The nimrods were correct that doing so would lose the Democrats the southern states - but sometimes you have to do what is RIGHT for most of the citizenry, even if it means a few decades out of power as a result.

Marriage equality is coming, whether the knuckledraggers like it or not. It's just a matter of when. Two steps forward and one step back still carries you eventually forward.

so, when will a gay married Canuck family sue under NAFTA while staying in the USA?

hmmm?

treaties override state and national laws, by the by.

My bet is that if the decision was going to uphold DOMA, Owens would not have leaked its imminent arrival.

I agree with Napoleon. The 'leak' by Owens was odd. Fifteen months was odd. The debate wouldn't have lasted that long with a negative decision. Another reporter indicated that Chief Justice Alexander smiled when asked about the case this week. Would love to know his personal opinion. I look forward to visiting Washington for my nuptials next month. Richlands or Kennewick?

I notice that TVW is showing at 1:00 PM some of the arguments before the court from March '05, when the case was heard:

"The State Supreme Court listens to oral arguments in the case of Heather Andersen & Leslie Christian, et al. v. King County, et al. on whether Washington's Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional (consolidated case)."

We'll know the decision by then, I guess.

Well, guess I was wrong. But being a 5-4 decision, I expect someone (probably Alexander) was fence-sitting, and announced he was ready last week, and just signed on to whichever view was prevailing (politically).

Owens may have thought he was falling the other way.

Or I could be completely insane.

Bugger.

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