ASSOCIATED PRESS
By By RACHEL LA CORTE Associated Press
Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, which now joins several other states that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.
Gregoire and Secretary of State Sam Reed certified the election on Wednesday afternoon, as they were joined by couples who plan to wed and community activists who worked on the campaign supporting gay marriage. The law doesn’t take effect until Thursday, when gay and lesbian couples can start picking up their wedding certificates and licenses at county auditors’ offices. King County, the state’s largest and home to Seattle, and Thurston County, home to the state capital of Olympia, will open the earliest, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, to start issuing marriage licenses.
In Seattle, Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line to wait for their license at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
“We knew it was going to happen, but it’s still surreal,” said Dollente, 29.
By 10 p.m., dozens of people had joined the queue and the mood was festive.
Rainbow flag. Symbol of gay pride. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Related articles
- Gregoire signs Washington’s same-sex marriage law (king5.com)
- Washington Same-Sex Marriage Measure Signed Into Law By Chris Gregoire (huffingtonpost.com)
- Dozens line up for gay marriage licenses (seattletimes.com)
- Gov. Signs Wash. Gay Marriage Law (abcnews.go.com)
- Counties in Washington ready to provide same-sex marriage licenses (oregonlive.com)
