Republicans Say No! to R-71

Gay marriage has been up for debate in many states. The state of Washington is no exception. Somewhat recently Referendum 71 was brought to the table in Washington St. Referendum 71 is also known as, “The Everything but Marriage Bill.”
The gist of what the bill entails is granting domestic partners the exact same rights as marriage does. It does not redefine the definition of marriage, it does not force churches to perform ceremonies on same sexed couples, and it does not force schools to teach homosexuality. It would seem to me that this would be the great compromise, right? Same sex couples and straight couples in domestic partnerships (people tend to forget that) gain benefits and the religious right gets to keep marriage safe and sound. Then why is there a movement to kill Referendum 71? I mean, if you think about it, a lot if not most of the politicians that oppose gay marriage such as Obama and McCain but support equal rights to same sex couples.
GOP Chairman Luke Esser stated in the Seattle PI, “Everything but marriage is really just the latest installment of an effort to mandate gay marriage in our state. A Yes vote is to ‘support gay marriage.”
If you don’t keep up with Washington St. Politics, it should be noted that in the past, when dealing with domestic partnership and even other liberal issues, both republicans and democrats came to more liberal agreements such as extending domestic partner rights and abortion rights.
The Christian right movement for a long time didn’t seem to reach Washington’s borders, but I guess the times are changing. As time goes on, it looks less and less likely that R-71 will be passed anytime soon.
I promised myself when I signed up for this website that I would try to make my points without going completely bias, but I just can’t do it this time. This is so sad to me. I can’t believe that my own state would have so much trouble giving people equal rights. This is blatant discrimination and there is no debate in this. It’s wrong and something needs to happen before this gets out of hand.