Referendum 74 is a hot issue on the ticket this election, plastering our LGBT friendly community with green Washington United For Marriage “I DO” bumper stickers and yard signs beaming with their slogan: “Equality for all loving couples.” But outside of our impenetrable bubble of open-minded academia, there exists a dark word of discriminatory, antiquated religious fanatics and anti-marriage equality bigots; namely, The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.
It may come as no surprise that both of these organizations are religiously based groups, claiming to be protecting the sanctity of an illusory ideal of marriage; as if marriage is a particular social arrangement that should be exempt from adaptation with the progress of society.
Seattle’s Catholic Archbishop J. Peter Sartain stated, “Our vote on Referendum 74 is about what we believe God has been doing from the creation of the world and how he invites us to be partners in continuing his work until the end of time,” and that vote is adamantly opposed to Referendum 74.
What Sartain is missing here is that granting same-sex couples the right to marriage will not take rights away from anyone. Sartain will not be forced to perform same-sex marriages within his congregation, and no rights will be revoked from hetero couples. Simply put, the approval of Referendum 74 would grant same-sex families the preexisting rights hetero families already enjoy. While his stance is intolerant and archaic, it is a private belief he undoubtedly has the right to; it become problematic when Sartain and other anti-equality organizations claim their private religious dogmas should dictate civil political discourse.
On Sept. 20th NOM wrote their first check at a whopping $250,000 to Preserve Marriage Washington (PMW), the coalition working against Referendum 74. This donation is the single biggest contribution to PMW yet.
While the opposition appears to be mostly religious, older voters, many faith organizations have come out in support of marriage equality. On Sept. 30th over 250 religious leaders and congregation members paraded through North Seattle in the Greenwood/Phinney Faith March. Carol Jensen, Pastor at St. John United Lutheran Church told King 5 News, “I think a lot of gays and lesbians felt excluded from churches and we want to say you are welcomed and we support this right to marry.”
A recent survey by SurveyUSA for KING-5 News shows Referendum 74 with a 56-38 percent lead, holding particular support from younger voters.
Whether you are registered in Washington this year or not, there are three other states voting on marriage equality this election: Maryland, Minnesota and Maine. A quick marriage equality voting guide goes as follows: Washington, yes on Referendum 74; Maryland yes on question 6; Minnesota, no on the proposed State Constitutional Amendment which reads “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in Minnesota?”; and in Maine, yes on question one.
While all 31 states that have voted on constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage have passed, conversely, this election marriage equality is leading in pre-election polls in all four states. Washington United for Marriage is encouraging voters to talk to our peers about this important battle for gender equality, and more importantly make sure you are registered to vote. Tomorrow, Oct. 6th, is the last day to send in your mail-in voter registration, but remember you can still register in person up until Oct. 29th.