Thurston Marriage Equality
Equal Rights Washington
Love is Love is Love

Religious objections to same sex marriage should not apply when discussing legal marriage. We are not asking people to change their religious beliefs. Access to legal marriage is completely unrelated to the right of religious institutions to decide whom they will marry, just as various religious institutions have always made those decisions in regard to heterosexual couples. No church or other religious institution will be required to perform a ceremony for a same sex couple, although many religious denominations do perform marriages for same-sex couples and have done so for many years.

The tradition of marriage is not harmed by access to legal marriage for same sex couples. There is nothing to fear from equality; nothing about the marriage of a same sex couple changes the individual marriages of others. Marriage does have a long history of excluding same-sex couples but that doesn't necessarily mean that is in keeping with American values and traditions. In fact, Marriage equality would build on America's tradition of moving civil rights forward and erasing the inequities of the past. One of the most highly valued traditions in this country has been to pass laws to safeguard people and to expand laws where they leave citizens unprotected.