Washington: Second court rules for marriage equality.

Posted on September 8, 2004 by lucia

The Seattle Times reports:

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks was the second trial judge in four weeks to strike down Washington’s Defense of Marriage Act, overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature six years ago.

In his 38 page ruling setting aside Washington State’s DOMA, Hicks also recognized homosexuals are a suspect class, which entitles them to equal protection under the law. King County Superior Court Judge William Downing had previously ruled for same sex marriage, but did not classify homosexuals as protected. Both ruled marriage is a fundamental right.

As is often the case, the judge found procreation based arguments for limiting marriage to the one-man one-woman model unpersuasive. The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports:

He rejected arguments that banning same-sex couples from marrying encourages procreation or makes for more stable families, saying that “does not reflect our common reality.”

“For at least two generations we have understood ‘family’ as something more than a man mating with a woman to have a child,” Hicks wrote.

Attorneys expect Hicks will delay implementing his ruling, so same sex couples probably won’t get marriage licenses soon. Both cases are headed for the Washington Supreme Court, which will likely join the two cases. Meanwhile, opponents of marriage equality will work to amend the Washington State Constitution.

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