Lawmakers in Washington State introduced legislation on Monday that would legally recognize same-sex marriage, according to The Columbian. Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle and Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver chose Valentine’s Day to introduce Senate Bill 5793 and House Bill 1963, which aim to give gays and lesbians access to the one marital right they are currently denied: the right to legally define their relationships using the word “marriage.”
“Gay and lesbian families in Washington now enjoy the same state spousal rights that their married straight friends enjoy—except for the name ‘marriage,’” Murray told The Columbian, referring to Washington State’s 2009 “everything but marriage” legislation, which gave registered same-sex couples all the state-level rights and benefits of marriage, but left the state’s statutory ban on gay marriage intact.
