Washington

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 […]

In a rare move, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an order preventing Washington State from releasing the names of more than 120,000 people who signed petitions seeking a voter referendum on whether to give same-sex couples most of the same rights as married couples. The cerendum 71 on the November ballot should continue to be […]

In a flurry of legal activity today, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy essentially reimposed a ban on release of the names of those who signed Washington state’s Referendum 71 petitions. Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered an injunction against release of the names be stayed thus allowing the state to distribute […]

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 […]

UPDATED 17:30 PT — A judge on Tuesday refused to block a proposed ballot initiative on expanded domestic partnership benefits for gay couples in Washington state. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee rejected arguments today in an Olympia courtroom in the lawsuit filed by Washington Families Standing Together. The group challenged the validity of […]

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 […]

Washington state’s Referendum 71, which will give voters a chance to overturn the new “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partnership law, has moved a step closer to being on the November ballot. The secretary of state’s office ruled Monday that the referendum had 121,486 valid voter signatures, nearly a thousand more than needed to make […]