The Washington state Senate passed a same-sex marriage bill Wednesday with a 28-21 vote. Now the measure awaits passage in the Washington House of Representatives. If the measure passes into legislation, Washington will be the seventh state to allow gay and lesbian marriages.
Gov. Chris Gregoire has supported the measure and she is expected to sign the bill into law. Despite the bill’s promise to become legislation, opponents of the same-sex marriage measure have promised to challenge the bill with a referendum.
According to USA Today, the packed public galleries erupted into applause as the Senate officially passed the measure after an hour and a half of Republican-Democrat debate. Four Republicans voted for the measure, while three Democrats voted against it.
The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ed Murray, said that same-sex marriage “is as contentious any issue that this body has considered in its history.”
He added that naysayers of the bill “are not, nor should they be accused of bigotry.”
“Those of us who support this legislation are not, and we should not be accused of, undermining family life or religious freedom,” said Murray. “Marriage is how society says you are a family.”
