by Shar Lichty

We made history on Nov. 6th, becoming the first state to defend the freedom to marry at the ballot by 53.32% to 46.68%. We were an important part of a historical night for LGBT rights and recognition nationally.

None of this would have been possible without a campaign dedicated to organizing in Eastern Washington. We had significant gains in Eastern WA support from R71 to R74 with the three largest gains being: Garfield County, 5.89% increase; Whitman County, 5.14% increase; and Spokane County, 4.48% increase. The City of Spokane also saw a significant 4.37% increase with the larger gains coming from the more conservative districts: District 1, 3.09% increase and District 3, 6.37% increase.

Spokane played another key role in Approving R74 with 16 faith leaders publicly endorsing the freedom to marry.  Read more »

By Shar Lichty, Organizer

Last month I attended a brown bag lunch discussion with a staff member from Washington United for Marriage and leaders from the local group working to secure marriage equality at the ballot in November. During introductions we were asked to answer the question, “How will you feel on Nov. 7th if marriage equality fails at the ballot?” This question threw me for a bit of a loop because I honestly had not thought about it. In my mind it was not an option. This question became a dose of reality for me, a wake-up call: We can fail. Read more »

By Shar Lichty

The marriage equality law that was passed by the legislation and signed into law by the Governor on Feb. 13, 2012 was set to go into effect on June 7th permitting civil marriage for same-sex couples. Unfortunately, the folks who don’t believe in equal rights for same-sex couples were successful in gathering enough signatures by the June 6th deadline to challenge this law at the ballot in Nov. Read more »

By Shar Lichty

Will Washington be the next state to grant this civil right to same sex couples? I dare to dream the time is now.

PJALS has endorsed and is actively working with the campaign for marriage equality in Washington State, Washington United for Marriage. Governor Gregoire made a public announcement in support of marriage equality for this legislative session introduced the bills, SB 6239 and HB 1963. Since then, King County Council and Tacoma City Council have both passed resolutions in support of marriage equality as well as two Republican Senators publicly announcing their support. Read more »