NEWS RELEASE:
November 17, 2004
Contact: Tom Henry, Olympia Communications Group, 360-413-9300
Washingtonians Oppose Changes to State Marriage Law
(Seattle) The people of Washington continue to believe in the sanctity of authentic marriage and reject efforts to extend marriage rights to same sex couples.
Current Washington state law defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. When asked if that definition should be changed in any way, 59 percent of respondents said “no,” 39 percent said, “yes,” and two percent were undecided.
Jeff Kemp, President of Bellevue-based Families Northwest, which commissioned the study, said he suspects support for one man-one woman marriage is actually higher than that.
“We did this poll about one month before the election when 11 states voted authentic marriage into their state constitutions,” he said. “As we saw in the Oregon and Ohio votes, actual vote totals supporting those amendments was stronger than polls in those states indicated.
“The people of Washington are tolerant of other people’s life choices and do not want to dictate other choices to them, but the poll results make it clear that people want to defend the institution that has been the bedrock of society throughout recorded history,” Kemp said.
When asked if marriage should remain the union of one man and one woman or, “should be a union between two loving adults regardless of their gender,” respondents supported marriage as we know it by a 57-41 percent margin.
Nearly 40 percent of respondents are unaware that Washington’s marriage laws are being challenged in the courts. The state’s Defense of Marriage Act, approved by overwhelming majorities in both houses of the State Legislature in 1998, was declared to be unconstitutional by courts in King and Thurston counties. The state Supreme Court will hear the case next year.
“A total of 17 states have incorporated authentic marriage into their state constitutions,” Kemp said. “With their votes, people are saying they don’t trust the courts to uphold the overwhelming decisions of state legislatures and voters. It is time we found a constitutional solution in Washington state and not allow individual judges to dictate our beliefs and values,” he said.
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To learn about this latest research study from Families Northwest, click here.
