Gay Couples Must Be Allowed To Marry, Washington Court Says; Co-Counsel Lambda Legal Celebrates Historic Ruling, Prepares for State Supreme Court

(Seattle, August 4, 2004) - A Washington state court ruled today that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry, in a decision that Lambda Legal, co-counsel in a lawsuit on behalf of eight King County couples, called “a historic ruling for fairness and equality.”

In a ruling issued this morning in Seattle, King County Superior Court Judge William Downing said that the state Constitution guarantees basic rights to lesbian and gay people - and that those rights are violated by a state law prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying. The ruling said the state Constitution requires same-sex couples to have equal access to marriage, and that the couples represented by Lambda Legal and the Northwest Women’s Law Center must be given marriage licenses.

“This is a huge victory and a historic day,” said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal. “The court recognized that unless gay people can marry, we are not being treated equally under the law. Same-sex couples need the protections and security marriage provides, and this ruling says we’re entitled to get them the same way straight couples do.”

In today’s ruling, Judge Downing called the eight couples represented by Lambda Legal and the Northwest Women’s Law Center “law-abiding, taxpaying model citizens,” and said, “There is no worthwhile institution that they would dishonor, much less destroy.” In the ruling, Downing also said, “The characteristics embodied by these plaintiffs are ones that our society and the institution of marriage need more of, not less. Let the plaintiffs stand as inspirations for all those citizens, homosexual and heterosexual, who may follow their path.”

The county and the state are expected to appeal today’s ruling, and the Supreme Court may take the case directly and hear arguments on an expedited basis, according to Lambda Legal. Jennifer Pizer, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office and one of the lead attorneys on the case said that the state’s high court has a recent track record of treating same-sex couples equally. Pizer played a key role in two key legal victories for same-sex couples at the Washington Supreme Court, both in 2001.

“We believe that the Washington Supreme Court will look closely at the important issues this case raises and come to the same conclusion the lower court reached,” Pizer said. “Our clients pay all the same taxes as their neighbors and coworkers, and they deserve all the same legal protections.”

Today’s ruling goes further than an Oregon state court ruling earlier this year, which said that the state’s law prohibiting marriage between same-sex couples was unconstitutional, but went on to say that civil unions or other measures could provide adequate protections to lesbian and gay couples. “We sought full marriage with this case - nothing more and nothing less - and that’s what we got,” Pizer said.

The decision issued today should not fuel right-wing attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution to discriminate against same-sex couples, since the ruling applies only to couples in Washington State, Cathcart said.

“These are Washington State couples who pay Washington State taxes and want Washington State marriage licenses under the Washington State Constitution. Any attempts to turn today’s ruling for fairness into a national wedge issue to divide and distract people won’t work,” Cathcart said. “Most Americans see that it’s time to stop turning gay couples’ lives into political fodder. Our clients, who are in deeply loving, committed relationships, are being denied basic fairness and they’re seeking justice the old-fashioned way, just like other people have since our nation was founded.”

Lambda Legal and the Northwest Women’s Law Center filed the lawsuit in March on behalf of same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in King County, arguing that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the state Constitution’s guarantees of equality, liberty and privacy for all Washingtonians. The case was the first of its kind to be filed in Washington since the Massachusetts high court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to full marriage under that state’s Constitution.

In addition to its case in Washington, Lambda Legal is also currently litigating marriage cases in New Jersey, New York, and California. (Lambda Legal is working on the California case with the ACLU, National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality California.)

Jennifer C. Pizer and Jamie Pedersen, Co-Chair of Lambda Legal’s Board of Directors and an attorney at the Seattle law firm, Preston Gates & Ellis, are Lambda Legal’s lead attorneys on the case, Andersen, et. al. v. Sims, et. al. Co-counsel include Nancy Sapiro of the Northwest Women’s Law Center, Bradley Bagshaw and Jennifer Divine, of the Seattle law firm Helsell Fetterman LLP, and Patricia Novotny.

Contact: Fred Shank cell: 917-691-5412 or Eric Ferrero: 212-809-8585 X 227 or pager: 888-987-1984

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