More than 138,000 signatures have been gathered in Washington state to allow the people to repeal a domestic-partnership law that was passed by the state Legislature.
Protect Marriage Washington turned in petitions on Saturday containing more than the minimum 120,577 signatures. State election workers will now certify the names, and if enough are deemed valid, the issue would appear on the November ballot. It would allow the people to decide the fate of the domestic-partner benefits legislation.
Marriage supporters have also filed suit against the Washington secretary of state to prevent the release of the names of petition-signers. That step was taken because opponents have threatened to publish the names and addresses in order to intimidate marriage supporters.
Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, said he was pleased that so many people took a stand for one-man, one-woman marriage.
“The public is becoming aware of the significance of this issue in our state,” he said. “They’re waking up and beginning to act in a way that we haven’t seen in quite a while.”
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