Domestic Partners

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s domestic partner registry. The court offered no explanation in an order issued Tuesday. The law took effect in August, allowing gay couples to register with counties so they could get about 40 of the 150 rights afforded married couples, such as hospital visitation rights. Wisconsin […]

In a victory for gay rights supporters, voters in Washington state have approved Referendum 71, a measure to expand the state’s domestic partnership law. The results are a disappointment to religious conservatives, who had mounted an aggressive campaign against conferring additional benefits on committed gay couples and some senior couples. The so called “everything but […]

On Tuesday, voters will “approve” or “reject” the final expansion to the state’s domestic partnership law, which grants registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples. Referendum 71 gives voters the final decision over a bill passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year. The so called […]

Washington state’s slow-but-steady approach to increasing rights and benefits to gay and lesbian couples hit its first snag just as the three-year process appeared to be complete. After lawmakers passed the state’s first domestic partnership bill in 2007, and then expanded it a year later, they completed the package with the so-called “everything but marriage” […]

From The Seattle Times: Apparently emboldened by recent legal victories — including a case being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court — groups opposed to Washington’s domestic-partnership law and working to defeat Referendum 71 are suing again in federal court, this time to lift the state’s limits on campaign contributions. With some major funding in […]

Microsoft has contributed $100,000 to the campaign to approve Referendum 71, which would uphold a state law to expand domestic-partnership benefits, the Seattle Times reports. The company made the donation on Friday to Washington Families Standing Together, a group supporting the law, which gives registered couples the same state-provided benefits as married couples. Here is […]

The domestic partnership benefits of hundreds of Wisconsin gay couples could be overturned in what’s becoming a growing legal battle. Currently, gay couples in Wisconsin can register for domestic partnerships rights, enacted through legislation that took effect August 3. Since then, about 1,000 couples have applied, according to gay rights advocacy group Fair Wisconsin. Now, […]

The Washington state attorney general’s office announced Friday it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling to keep secret the names of people who signed petitions calling for a public vote on expanded domestic partnership benefits. Spokeswoman Janelle Guthrie says Attorney General Rob McKenna will ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the […]

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the state of Washington to continue shielding the identities of people who signed petitions to force a vote on expanded benefits for gay couples. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle (pictured) in Tacoma granted the preliminary injunction involving petitions for Referendum 71 while a related case moves forward on the […]

Supporters of Washington’s “everything but marriage” gay partnerships are continuing their court battle over Referendum 71. R-71’s conservative sponsors have collected enough petitions to force a vote on the latest expansion of domestic partnership rights, but gay-rights activists say that state election officials accepted thousands of improper signatures, and filed a lawsuit in Thurston County […]