The state domestic-partnership bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the state senate last week, will almost certainly become law before the legislative session ends in April; an almost identical bill in the state house has 55 sponsorsâmore than it needs to pass.
The law would allow cohabitating same-sex couplesâand hetero couples in which at least one partner is older than 62âto register as domestic partners with the state attorney general's office. Domestic-partnership status would give each partner the right to make decisions if the other is incapacitated, such as arranging funerals and authorizing autopsies. It would also prevent hospitals from denying gay people access to a partner's hospital roomâsomething that can happen when the state does not formally recognize a relationship.
Both supporters and opponents of the law agree it's a step toward full marriage equality. But as the name "domestic partnership" suggests, it's still a long way from marriage. Of the 423 rights and benefits currently granted to legally wedded couples by the state of Washington, this bill provides only about a dozen.
Supporters of the bill say that chasm of inequality is just what they're trying to illustrate.
"Part of the goal of civil unions is to mask separate-but-equal status, because it sounds like civil marriage. We wanted to make a point that it's separate but unequal," said Representative Jamie Pedersen (D-43), a sponsor of the house version of the bill. Pedersen says the shortcomings of domestic partnerships will serve as "a visible reminder that we are not done... We have to keep working until everyone is treated equally."
Older straight couples were included in the domestic-partnership bill because some seniors cannot remarry without losing much-needed pensions from marriages to deceased partners. Younger straight couples were not covered because they already have the opportunity to marry and aren't likely to have access to pensions. Religious conservatives were quick to turn the equality rhetoric around and accuse the bill of discriminating against young heterosexual couples.
Senator Ed Murray (D-43), sponsor of the senate version of the bill, believes that incrementally adding domestic-partner benefits will eventually lead to marriage equality. "Every year we'll introduce more of these and people are going to get the picture that we just need to do the whole thing," he said. A year ago, a measure to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation passed by a one-vote margin. In this year's solidly Democratic senate, the domestic-partnership bill won by a 28-19 landslide.
Despite the tidal shift since last November's election, legislators are still taking pains to proceed slowly.
Two bills that would have allowed full marriage rights to gay couples died in committee this sessionâperhaps because public opinion hovers at discouraging low levels. Only 29 percent of Washington voters believe gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, according to a poll conducted last October by the University of Washington.
As for the courts: Forget them. The Washington State Supreme Court built a virtual roadblock to establishing marriage equality through case law last year when it upheld Washington's Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to heterosexual couples.
"What's wonderful about what we're doing in Washington is that we're the first state trying to secure marriage without being propelled by a significant victory in a court case," says Josh Friedes, advocacy director of Equal Rights Washington, an organization that has played an instrumental role in lobbying for the bill. "We are protecting families now, while working toward marriage equality," he says.
While the one-step-at-a-time approach may seem aggravatingly slow, advocates argue it may be the only route to achieve marriage equality in Washington. If the scheme doesn't pan out, Murray is open to different approaches: "We're not wedded to this strategy. If it doesn't work, we'll drop it and try something else."
For now, Representative Pedersen hopes to delay the house vote until later in the session, which ends April 22. He hopes to stymie activists who want to place a referendum on the law on the November ballot.
Meanwhile, assuming the bill becomes law (as seems likely), Pedersen is ready to file for the few benefits of domestic partnership. After a recent dinner at Coastal Kitchen, he was walking with his partner to their home on Capitol Hill when he prematurely popped the big questionâbut he said asking for a domestic partnership was a little anticlimactic.
"Honey, I assume you want to get registered?"
