LYNNWOOD — Supporters and opponents of Referendum 71 squared off Monday night on whether voters should view the measure as providing equal rights for all families or undermining the foundation of traditional marriage.
Representatives of the two sides kept their emotions in check as they debated the most controversial item on the Nov. 3 ballot in front of 100 people and cable television cameras in the Black Box Theater at Edmonds Community College.
“This is extraordinarily personal. It will be 200 rights and responsibilities my partner and I will benefit from,” said Joe Mirabella, a volunteer with Washington Families Standing Together, the group campaigning for approval of the referendum.
There will be “significant” costs to the majority of society unless the measure is rejected, said Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Lynnwood-based Family Policy Institute of Washington.
“There are very real implications for religious liberty, rights of conscience and public education. The state will be imposing its will on those who disagree” with this law, he said.
Referendum 71 asks voters to approve or reject the latest expansion of the state’s domestic partnership law passed by state legislators earlier this year.
That law, which would only take effect if voters approve Referendum 71, would grant registered domestic partnerships the same rights, responsibilities and obligations under state law now enjoyed by married couples, with the exception of marriage.
As of Monday, there were 6,119 registered domestic partnerships in Washington, most of which are same-sex couples. The law also covers unmarried heterosexual couples if one partner is at least 62.
“I think every family in Washington deserves the same basic protections,” said Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, one of the Legislature’s gay lawmakers. “The benefits to 12,000 people are real and the cost to the rest of us who are not in domestic partnerships are zero.”
Protect Marriage Washington, a coalition of conservative social and religious groups led by Larry Stickney of Arlington, collected enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Now, the sponsors of the petition want voters to reject it.
Bob Struble of Bremerton, representing the sponsors, said the law would demolish the state’s existing law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. It also would ignite litigation that most likely would lead to the state Supreme Court — not voters — legalizing marriage for same-sex couples.
“The people of Washington will never get a chance to vote on gay marriage,” he said.
The forum was taped for the cable program “Civic Engagement” and will be shown several times on channels 21 and 26 in south Snohomish County.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
On the Web
Approve: Washington Families Standing Together: http://approvereferendum71.org
Reject: Protect Marriage Washington: www.protectmarriagewa.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
