Last week’s floor debate over same-sex marriage revealed a state Senate that, like the citizens it represents, was divided intellectually and emotionally over an issue of deep personal and religious significance.
Just as importantly, it also reflected a value shared by the overwhelming majority of Washingtonians: civility.
As this debate moves forward, next to the House, then likely to a referendum campaign and public vote in the fall, advocates on both sides should commit to following the positive example set by the senators who spoke for and against legalizing same-sex marriage on Wednesday.
Senators from both sides of the aisle, and the issue, explained their position eloquently while taking pains to separate their vote from their feelings about colleagues who were voting the other way. They showed that even on one of the most contentious issues our state has ever faced, we can disagree respectfully.
We urge members of the House, where debate sometimes gets a bit more raucous, to continue this civil tone. Final passage by the House (a welcome event, in our view) will unleash justifiable cheers, as we witnessed after the Senate’s 28-21 vote on Wednesday. Supporters need to resist a celebration that, like a touchdown dance, can feel like taunting on the other side.
Well-organized, out-of-state forces already are pledging to help put a referendum to repeal same-sex marriage on the ballot. National organizations supporting same-sex marriage will undoubtedly land here, too. For all of them, a word of advice: Keep the temperature in check. In Washington, overheated TV ads could hurt your case more than help it.
Unintended consequences could spill into other races, such as the one for governor, likely between Republican Rob McKenna and Democrat Jay Inslee.
For example, if McKenna, who said recently he’d vote to repeal same-sex marriage, is associated in voters’ minds with a nasty campaign against marriage equality, he could fare less well among the suburban voters he must have to win.
Likewise, Inslee, who supports the same-sex marriage bill, could be hurt if proponents try to intimidate folks out of signing a referendum petition, either face-to-face or by threatening to “have a conversation” by phone with petition signers.
Sen. Ed Murray, the openly gay prime sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill, said it well just before Wednesday’s vote. He acknowledged that people have deep, personal feelings about marriage. Opponents of the measure, he said, are not and should not be referred to as bigots. Supporters, he added, shouldn’t be cast as being against religious freedom or family values.
Indeed, civility and respect are two values we hope both sides will hold tightly in the coming months. Where we disagree, let’s resolve to do so without burning the bridges that connect us in so many other ways.
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