Gay Marriage In Washington State

With Washington, Maryland & Maine winning their ballot fights passing gay marriage, Washington will be the first to issue marriage licenses to couples beginning Thursday Dec 6th. Washington’s final vote tally shows the largest margin of victory at 7.4%. The final vote shows R74 winning by 53.7% to 46.3%. County clerks across the state are expecting hundreds of couples to line up for licenses today as soon as clerk’s offices open. Two counties King & Thurston, started issuing licenses at midnight Thursday morning. Washington will be the first state among the 3 to actually hold gay marriages on Sunday, Dec. 9. The Sunday nuptials follow the state law requiring couples to wait 3 days after receiving their marriage licenses before marrying. The City of Seattle is opening the Grand Lobby at City Hall for a day wedding celebrations. Local judges have volunteered to officiate marriages, artists are working to provide colorful backdrops for ceremonies in the lobby & volunteer witnesses will be on hand. Florists, photographers, event planners, caterers & other wedding-related businesses are looking forward to a big boost in business from the passage of Referendum 74. A study released earlier this year by UCLA’s Williams Institute estimates gay marriages will add 57 million dollars to Washington’s economy in the first year alone. Zach Silk, campaign manager of Washington United for Marriage, which led the R74 campaign stated, "This is always what it's been all about -- making peoples' dreams come true. Thursday is a proud & joyful day for all Washingtonians. And for those of us from the campaign, we are so very grateful to the thousands of volunteers & donors who made it possible for everyone to marry the person they love." Now let’s see if the US Supreme Court will address marriage equality on Friday so that federal rights & benefits will be coming our way.
Updates to Come…:)

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