PRESS RELEASES
Read the newest press releases in our news room and keep up to date on what is going on in Washington!
Equal Rights Washington works to protect the rights of Washington state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Many issues affect the LGBT community, and each presents its own challenges and opportunities.
When it comes right down to it, most of us don’t want to marry someone because we want to be protected from testifying against them in court, or to be recognized as next-of-kin. Yes, those are important rights and privileges (along with more than a thousand others) that come with legal marriage. But in our society, most people decide to marry because they want to make a commitment to each other, and they want that commitment to be recognized, to have status in the community.
We can find other ways to grant the rights, but only marriage – full marriage, not civil unions or domestic partnerships or any other parallel track – can give our relationships the status they deserve. Anything other than marriage is a concession, an indication that we are less than human and our rights our granted grudgingly.
Equal Rights Washington joins with
other community organizations in fighting for full marriage equality.
Whether individual couples choose to marry or not, the right to
marry is an essential expression of our humanity. We celebrate
with same-sex couples in Canada, Spain, and Massachusetts. Although
we lost in the courts in Washington in 2006, we look forward to
celebrating in Washington state someday soon.
“We've
come so far as a community, and we've kept our eyes on the
prize: full equality.
In 2006, Washington state
joined just six others in passing anti-discrimination legislation
that protects gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals – as
well as those who are believed to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or
transgender. Leaders in the LGBT community have worked to pass
this bill for decades, and it finally made it to the Senate floor
for a full vote, and passed, by a single vote. Attempts to repeal
the law in 2006 were defeated.
In the battle for marriage equality,
2006 handed us a set-back. But we'll be back in the legislature,
and the street, to make our case for full and equal rights.
Equal Rights Washington (ERW) works to ensure and promote dignity, safety, and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Washingtonians.
When it comes right down to it, most of us don’t want to marry someone because we want to be protected from testifying against them in court, or to be recognized as next-of-kin. Yes, those are important rights and privileges (along with more than a thousand others) that come with legal marriage. But in our society, most people decide to marry because they want to make a commitment to each other, and they want that commitment to be recognized, to have status in the community.
“We've
come so far as a community, and we've kept our eyes on the
prize: full equality.