breaking news

[matriarch]

Didn't know where to post it, so I thought I'd just stick it in a new thread for y'all to read.

Just sent to me from a friend in Seattle.

http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?id=32488

Now I am off for a nap.

 

[doormouse]

Is it just me?

I couldn't open the page

 

[Guest]

Is it just me?

I couldn't open the page

Copy and paste the URL.

 

[R. Richard]

Also could not open the page.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Copy and paste the URL.

Or

Copy and paste the article.


***

King County Judge Rules In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage

August 4, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


SEATTLE - Gay couples can marry under Washington state law, because barring them from doing so is a violation of their constitutional rights, a judge ruled Wednesday.

"The denial to the plaintiffs of the right to marry constitutes a denial of substantive due process," King County Superior Court Judge William L. Downing said in his ruling.

His decision is stayed until the state Supreme Court reviews the case, meaning no marriage licenses can be issued until then, said Jennifer Pizer, lead counsel in the case for Lambda Legal Defense.

"Judge Downing saw the couples in the courtroom and he's recognized that they are full and equal citizens of Washington. No more and no less," Pizer said.

The gay couples challenged Washington's Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts marriage to one man and one woman.

Arguing for the couples, attorney Bradley Bagshaw told Downing at a hearing last month that the act violates the state constitution by depriving same-sex couples of the same privileges and immunities as other residents, and by depriving them of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

Six couples filed the lawsuit in March after King County refused to grant them marriage licenses, and two other couples later joined the suit.

A second lawsuit was filed in April by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 11 same-sex couples.

In his ruling, Downing criticized arguments that a ban on same-sex marriage would protect children from harms that may be caused by being raised in a nontraditional family.

"Although many may hold strong opinions on the subject, the fact is that there are no scientifically valid studies tending to establish a negative impact on the adjustment of children raised by an intact same-sex couple as compared with those raised by an intact opposite-sex couple," Downing wrote.

He concluded that, "The exclusion of same-sex partners from civil marriage and the privileges attendant thereto is not rationally related to any legitimate or compelling state interest and is certainly not narrowly tailored toward such an interest."

Critics of same-sex marriage decried the ruling.

"I'm disappointed, of course," said state Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, who won intervener status in the King County case. "I'm disappointed that we even have to be deliberating a well-precedented matter that people previously defined as a marriage between a man and a woman. ... What's to say we can't call a sister-brother union marriage? Where do you draw the line?"

"We were quite surprised, especially when the judge said he didn't find any prohibition on same-sex marriage in the state constitution," said Rick Forcier, head of the Christian Coalition in Washington state. "But neither would he find a prohibition of pedophilia in the constitution. So it's pretty shaky ground for him to make a ruling based on what he didn't find."

King County Executive Ron Sims, a defendant in the lawsuit, said the ruling was a powerful affirmation of equal rights.

"I always believed that if the court of law addressed this that the court would conclude that the prohibition against gays and lesbians from being married would be found unconstitutional," Sims told The Associated Press. "I think marriage is an incredibly wonderful institution and that people who love each other should be allowed to be involved in it."

When first urged to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, Sims said he wouldn't do it because the licenses wouldn't have any legal meaning in a state that didn't recognize them.

He said he's glad the couples sued.

"I believe that our society will be stronger when we recognize the fullness of everyone's rights," Sims said. "That's the magic of America."

Washington is one of 38 states with laws defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Under a state high court ruling, Massachusetts has allowed gay marriage since May.

 

[doormouse]

Thanks Lucky

 

[matriarch]

Or

Copy and paste the article.


***

Thanks babe, I was just too lazy to do it.
Will you always be there to tidy up behind me ???
To pick up my pieces, and fill in my gaps?

Mat

Hey, does that count as 'theme of the day' at Abs??

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Thanks Lucky

Anytime, mousy.


~lucky

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Thanks babe, I was just too lazy to do it.
Will you always be there to tidy up behind me ???
To pick up my pieces, and fill in my gaps?

Mat

Hey, does that count as 'theme of the day' at Abs??

Welcome.
Just so we're clear, I lend a helping hand...I do NOT tidy up behind anyone but the lil' Luckster.
Pick up pieces? (Only in the event that we broke the toy fair and square.) Fill in your gaps? (More likely the cause of the previous effect, no?)

~lucky

Yes, it works for me. I'm more for the blunt and bold approach. Subtle and flowery never really was my style.

 

[matriarch]

Welcome.
....................

Pick up pieces? (Only in the event that we broke the toy fair and square.)
such passion!!!

Fill in your gaps? (More likely the cause of the previous effect, no?) ohhhhhhh myyy yes.

~lucky

Yes, it works for me. I'm more for the blunt and bold approach. Are we still talking about broken toys here ????
.......................................................

 

[Weird Harold]

By KOMO Staff & News Services


SEATTLE - Gay couples can marry under Washington state law, because barring them from doing so is a violation of their constitutional rights, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Sadly Washington's step forward is counterbalanced by Missouri's step backwards:

From: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/04/samesex.marriage.ap/

Missouri approves same-sex marriage ban
Wednesday, August 4, 2004 Posted: 1:48 PM EDT (1748 GMT)


JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Missouri voters solidly endorsed a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, a decision that was closely watched by national groups on both sides of the battle.

With nearly all precincts reporting, the amendment had garnered 71 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results for Tuesday's vote.

...