Friday
December 09, 2005
SGN.org
Volume 33
Issue 49
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Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
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King County Bar Association endorses marriage equality |
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| King County Bar Association endorses marriage equality | ||
| 'Two people of the same sex should have the right to marry under state law...'
The King County Bar Association has adopted a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage. KCBA is the first bar association in Washington to adopt a resolution regarding same-sex marriage, according to KCBA President Gary Maehara. The resolution, adopted unanimously by the KCBA Board of Trustees on November 16, 2005, provides: "Two people of the same sex should have the right to marry under state law and to undertake the legal responsibilities and to enjoy the legal protections associated with civil marriage under the law." Maehara said that the Board's vote was the culmination of several months of vigorous study and discussion, and that the text of the policy reflects the views of more than 70% of the approximately 330 comments that the KCBA Board received from a poll of the Association's members this fall. The bar association's resolution was adopted while two cases relating to same-sex marriage currently are pending before the Washington Supreme Court. In those consolidated cases the Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether our state's legislative prohibition of same-sex marriage is constitutional. "Same-sex couples are denied numerous legal rights, protections and benefits available only to married heterosexual couples" Maehara said He further added, "We're not trying to affect any religious organizations' definition or requirements for marriage as a religious institution." Maehara said that the KCBA Board also considered the concept of endorsing "civil unions" between same-sex couples as an alternative to civil marriage, but Board members concluded that the term "civil union," which was created by the Vermont Legislature in 2000 as a marriage substitute for Gay and Lesbian couples, is not recognized as "marriage" under federal laws, and it is unclear whether the term may be respected as the equivalent of marriage in many states. Maehara compared the civil union issue to the "separate but equal" alternative to the school integration argument that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected in the 1950s. "Who today would disagree with the Court's ruling that segregated schools were inherently unequal?" Maehara said. "Perhaps someday we too will look back on the issue of same-sex marriage and agree that equal justice applies to each of us without regard to sexual-orientation." Maehara said that the King County Bar Association's resolution is consistent with other civil rights-related positions that the Association has adopted historically. In 1886 local lawyers founded the Association in part to oppose efforts by local citizens to expel Chinese immigrants. During the anti-communist investigations of the 1950s, the Association adopted a resolution recognizing the right and duty of lawyers to represent clients in unpopular causes. In 1978, the Association opposed an initiative that would have repealed a Seattle ordinance barring discrimination in housing and employment based upon sexual orientation. For more information, please contact Gary A. Maehara, President of the King County Bar Association, at KCBAPresident@KCBA.org. A KCBA press release |
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International Readers |
 
It's new!A blog created by the SGN staff so you can be heard |
"Putting on the Ritz |
The Beauty of Freedom artist's reception |
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