Plan B Forum

Calling it “a day that historians will mark as a milestone for equal rights,” Washington governor Christine Gregoire signed into law a state marriage equality bill introduced just weeks ago.

“It is the right step. We have finally said yes to marriage equality,” Gregoire said during an exuberant Monday ceremony at the state capitol in Olympia. “The sky-will-fall rhetoric is simply not true. “

The law, which makes Washington the seventh state plus the District of Columbia to offer marriage rights to same-sex couples, is scheduled to go into effect on June 7, unless anti–marriage equality groups gather enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot, which they have vowed to do.

Before that can happen, the bill has to be received by the Washington Secretary of State's office, and a spokeswoman in the office said the measure should be filed by the end of Monday. Opponents are expected to file their request for a referendum as well by day's end.

In a triumphant address before marriage equality supporters, Gregoire thanked the efforts of lawmakers on both sides of the debate, the courage of gay and lesbian youth and the parents who support them, and, with tears in her eyes, her two daughters, who told her that marriage equality was the “defining civil rights issue of their time.”

Gregoire was introduced by state senator Ed Murray and representative Jamie Pedersen, two gay lawmakers who were leaders in their respective chambers for the bill’s passage. Murray praised Gregoire for her “leadership, passion, and courage.”