Washington Ballot: The Debate Over Referendum 71

Austin Jenkins
10/19/2009

Next month, Washington voters will decide whether to approve or reject the state's latest domestic partnership law. The law gives registered domestic partners all of the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. Proponents say it's an important step on the road to full equality. But opponents argue it paves the way for gay marriage in Washington.

Today in Washington state there are more than 6,000 registered domestic partners. Some are heterosexual couples 62 and older. Most are gay and lesbian partners; among them: two firefighters raising an infant son in Seattle.

Stone: "My name is Penny Stone and this is Calder Stone and this is my partner Karen Kerr."

Kerr: "I'm Calder's mom, I gave birth to Calder."

Stone: "And she's Amma and I'm Baba."

Kerr: "And it's wonderful being parents."

Stone and Kerr, Referendum 71 supporters, sit on the floor of their living room with Calder while he plays with a drum.

Calder's moms are actively involved in the campaign to Approve Referendum 71. This is the November ballot measure that would affirm or reject Washington's third and most recent domestic partnership law passed by the legislature earlier this year. The first two laws — which are not up for repeal — created Washington's domestic partnership registry and gave couples initial rights, like the right to visit each other in the hospital. This third law explicitly gives domestic partners all the rest of the rights and responsibilities that married couples in Washington state have, like the right to death benefits. That's why it's known as Washington's everything but marriage law. But Kerr emphasizes it's not gay marriage.

Kerr: "No matter what you think about marriage, I should have the same rights as any other U.S. citizen. I shouldn't have less status here because I love a woman. And we're both firefighters, we serve the community, we pay our taxes, we have a family, we own a home, we own two homes, we're good people."

Kerr and Stone would eventually like to see gay marriage legalized. But to them this referendum is about protecting their family. Opponents of Ref. 71 say don't be fooled.

Struble: "This may be the last chance the people of Washington state have to weigh–in on this issue."

Bob Struble represents Protect Marriage Washington, the group behind the Reject 71 campaign. Speaking recently on TVW's "Inside Olympia," he predicted Ref. 71 would lead to gay marriage.

Struble: "And if the people are deceived into thinking this is not about same–sex marriage which it really is, it's about this whole same–sex agenda, and go along with this argument then they'll never get another chance, courts will rule and that will be the end of the story."

Backers of Referendum 71 counter that that scenario is a straw man scare tactic. They say there's no indication domestic partnership legislation would lead the Washington Supreme Court to reverse its 2006 ruling upholding the state's Defense of Marriage Act. That law limits marriage in Washington to between one man and one woman. Nonetheless Ref. 71 is being watched closely by opponents of gay marriage nationally. Jenny Tyree is with Colorado–based Focus on the Family Action. She puts Washington in the same category as states like Vermont and New Jersey.

Tyree: "Vermont is a perfect example because they first had civil unions and declared that wasn't enough and so they pushed until they were able to redefine marriage completely in that state and there's a similar push in New Jersey."

Like a lot of marriage traditionalists, Tyree argues that children are still best served in homes with a mom and a dad.

Tyree: "Rather than trying to completely undermine the definition of marriage I think we should be trying to strengthen those family forms, and yes, doing what we can for families in alternative situations, but that doesn't necessarily mean that caring for them requires the redefinition of the very best family form."

Opponents of Ref. 71 also rely on a Biblical argument. On "Inside Olympia," Struble read from a recent resolution by the Bremerton chapter of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic Fraternal organization.

Struble: "Whereas sexual activity between same–sex partners is listed in the Bible right in between child sacrifice and bestiality as an, quote, 'abomination in the sight of God.'"

Back in Seattle, firefighter Stone says she's heard that her whole life. She grew up in a strict Southern Baptist family in South Carolina.

Stone: "The line that it says it has to be a woman and a man, I lived with that from the time I could read and it was preached in my church from the day I was [born] and all it did is tear me down as a person to say I'm different."

Stone says her reading of the Bible tells her to love everyone — equally. Ref. 71 is an 111 page, technical piece of legislation. Most voters will never read it in its entirely. In the end — win or lose — this vote will be about something very personal: what status should Washington state give to same–sex unions.

Austin Jenkins, KUOW News.

© Copyright 2009, KUOW