Washington, Too, Joins States Divided Over Rights for LGBT Couples
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NY Times: Come November, Washington State voters will be the latest electorate to grapple with how much recognition to give gay couples when they take up Referendum 71, which will either affirm or reject a recently passed domestic-partnership law that affords the couples almost all the same rights as married ones. But whether anyone will know who signed the petitions putting the measure on the ballot is an open question.
A federal district judge in Tacoma ruled on Thursday that state officials were not allowed to reveal the names of some 120,000 Washington residents who supported it. The ruling by the judge, Benjamin H. Settle, granted a preliminary injunction against the secretary of state banning release of the names, which had been requested under a state public records law. In his decision, Judge Settle said that the signing of a petition was essentially an act of anonymous — and protected — political speech, and that the identity of who signed a petition “is irrelevant to the voter.” The case is the latest filed by a conservative lawyer, James Bopp Jr., seeking to stop the publicizing of the names of those who oppose same sex marriage and other gay rights initiatives. In January, Mr. Bopp argued — unsuccessfully — for a preliminary injunction protecting the names of the donors behind Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage in California. The donors’ names were released, though Mr. Bopp continues his legal challenge.
Judge Settle’s decision was criticized by both the Washington secretary of state, Sam Reed, and the attorney general, Rob McKenna, who called it an affront to the state’s public record law and the idea of open government.
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