Bobby Flashman Flashman 1
January 22, 2012
CEP # 1

Gay Marriage in Washington

The controversy of gay marriage has always been an issue, whether mentioned in the confines of a home, a school or even, as stated by David Masci, the hallways of the U.S. congress, white house and courtrooms. As times change and generations pass, gay and lesbian relationships are becoming more acceptable, but that does not mean the problem is completely solved. Gay marriage has been legalized in six states as well as the District of Columbia, while twenty nine states have passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting same sex marriage in that state (Masci). Each side of the argument is very black and white. Either you believe that there is no right to tell someone they cannot be legally bonded with the one they love. While the counterpart, mostly religious aspects, is that it is not morally right for two members of the same sex to be together. Whether or not gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to wed is only part of the problem. The other issue at hand is whether the law should be decided by a peoples vote, or by a proposition to legislature by the Governor. Most states rest this choice with the people, deciding the content of their states constitution themselves. But the Governor also has the power to decide if their state is mature enough to be passed, though it would still not be a for sure thing. In the midst of this budget crisis in Washington State, there is also talk of legalizing same sex marriage. Christine Gregoire, the Governor of Washington State, “vowed to get a marriage bill passed in the upcoming legislation session (which was Monday)” (Garber). For the span of seven years which Gregoire has been in office, this is the first time she has been straight forward with her opinion. As stated in the article, Gregoire had said, “to me, the state’s responsibility is to absolutely ensure

Flashman 2 equality”. But just four years earlier, she believed that the state was not ready to fully accept gay marriage (Grber). Though she does battle with the religious aspect, the article mentions that she supports same sex marriage because of what is means to couples. But when mentioned to senate, some have a different opinion. “Sen. Mary Haugen was not willing to support any gay marriage bill that did not allow a vote of the people” (Garber). Not only is the voters voice important, but the choice of the Churches was conveyed in the article as well. Some wonder why this is being brought up to the legislature when taxes and the budget in the state of Washington are such a major issue. A gay marriage bill would be an easier thing to convince republicans to vote for, rather than tax increases, states Bill Murray in the article, so maybe they are looking for an easy escape from focusing on the budget problems. Not planning to run again, Gregoire seems set on getting this bill passed before she leaves office. But shouldn’t Washington States voters have a say in this bill, while the Government works out the state’s budget issues? Personally, I have no problem with same sex marriage, why tell two people they cannot be happy together, or worse, give them the option of a “Civil Union”, yet not allow them to be legally bonded? However, I believe that whether or not same sex marriage should be legal in Washington State should be the choice of the voters, not the legislature. I find it hard to believe that for a country that was founded by the people, for the people, our government can just silence our voices on this matter. I highly doubt that anyone on the legislate will be affected by this same sex marriage bill nor most of those voting in Washington state but I know a handful of individuals that will. When Gregoire signed the bill in 2007 saying that same sex couples could have a limited domestic partnership I thought it was a step in the right direction. The only problem is that couples in a domestic partnership do not receive the same benefits as a married couple. One example of this is that being able to file jointly on your federal tax return only. Domestic partnerships are unable to do this. It should be decided by the people who are affected by this discrimination to have a say in what should be done. This is why I believe that Flashman 3 same sex marriage in Washington state should be up to the voters themselves. Thus, the only ones who can for sure decide if we are mature, ready and willing to pass this bill is the people of the state themselves. Even with changed times and attitudes we do not know the effect this bill might have on us as a whole, and the last thing we need in the crisis we are in is more problems. The Government should be finding ways to fix our budget and how to give back to schools after attempting to make more cuts. Social bills that will affect how we react towards one another should be focused on by voters, while economic plans should be the main focus of the Government at this time. I completely agree that the decision of whether gay marriage should be legalized should be left to the people of Washington state, while voting on taxes and budget cuts should be the responsibility of the state legislature. Just as polititions are more qualified to make important decisions regarding the economy than the average person, voters understand how a decision about gay marriage will impact their daily lives better than a congressman or a governor does.

Works Cited Garber, Andrew. “Gregoire vows to get gay marriage bill passed.” The Seattle Times. 4 Ja, 2012. Web. 6 Jan 2012. Masci, David. “A Contentious Debate: Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S.” The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life. 9 July, 2009. Web. 6 Jan 2012.