Voters to settle issue of rights for same-sex couples
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Herald Net: Referendum 71 is the biggest civil rights issue placed in the hands of Washington voters since an anti-affirmative action measure reached the ballot a decade ago. It was 1998 when voters overwhelmingly passed Initiative 200 and barred the state from giving women and minorities preferential treatment in hiring, contracting and college enrollment. That same year legislators enacted the Defense of Marriage Act enshrining in Washington state law that marriage could only be between a man and a woman. In so doing, lawmakers stoked the fires of a gay rights movement that has since won several hard-fought legislative battles but faces a threat of a major setback this election.
Referendum 71 leaves the decision to voters to keep or discard a law that would recognize that same-sex couples have all the rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples under state law, except the ability to be legally wed. “The issues it raises are fairness and equal rights under the law for families who cannot marry,” said Doug Honig, communications director for the ACLU, one of 251 organizations pushing for the measure's approval.
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