SB 6239 /HB 2516 The Same-sex Marriage Bill

Author/Sponsor: For SB 6239 - Senators Murray, Pflug, Hobbs, Litzow, Kohl-Welles, Ranker, Tom, Harper, Pridemore, Keiser, Kline, Regala, Eide, Rolfes, McAuliffe, Brown, Nelson, Chase, Fraser, Frockt, Conway, Kilmer, and Prentice. For HB 2516 -Representatives Pedersen, Walsh, Moeller, Jinkins, Tharinger, Upthegrove, Van De Wege, Seaquist, McCoy, Billig, Morris, Carlyle, Darneille, Ladenburg, Maxwell, Moscoso, Stanford, Fitzgibbon, Pollet, Hudgins, Finn, Eddy, Springer, Ormsby, Wylie, Goodman, Appleton, Pettigrew, Takko, Roberts, Ryu, Cody, Hasegawa, Hunter, Hunt, Haigh, Lytton, Santos, Orwall, Hansen, Sullivan, Kenney, Reykdal, Dickerson, Kagi, Sells, Clibborn, Dunshee, Liias, and Chopp. 
Date Introduced: SB 6239 - 16 January 2012; HB 2516 - 17 January 2012
Date Enacted: 6 December 2012

Description:

• The bill legalized same-sex marriage and provided that all domestic partnerships not involving at least one member aged 62 years or older and not dissolved within two years of the date the law went into effect automatically became marriages.
• 13 February 2012, Governor Gregoire signed the bill into law.
• The law was to take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session but opponents blocked its implementation by collecting the signatures necessary to put the measure to a popular vote on 6 November 2012, as Referendum 74 (See Ballot Initiatives - Resolved below.)
• Via that referendum, voters approved the law by a 54%-46% margin.
• The law took effect on 6 December 2012. Because Washington requires a three-day waiting period (excluding the day of issue) for the celebration of a marriage, the first same-sex marriages in the state took place on 9 December 2012.