The National Organization for Marriage
(NOM) has pledged $250,000 to work against Republicans who vote for a
proposed gay marriage law in Washington state.
Senator Ed Murray last week filed a
bill that would make Washington the seventh state to legalize gay
marriage.
The state currently recognizes gay
couples with domestic partnerships. A 2009 expansion of the law gave
gay couples all the protections of marriage. A ballot initiative to
repeal the law failed.
“It's fairly incredible that some
legislators would try to legalize homosexual marriage so soon after
giving same-sex couples all the rights and privileges of marriage
through Domestic Partnerships,” said NOM President Brian Brown in a
statement. “This effort proves that the question is not one of
rights but preserving marriage as a child-focused institution that
has served families since the dawn of time.”
“We intend to hold every legislator
accountable for his or her vote on marriage. Any Republican who
votes to redefine marriage can count on funding of a primary
challenge to them.”
Currently, two GOP Senators – Steve
Litzow of Mercer Island and Cheryl Pflug of Maple Valley – and two
Representatives – Glenn Anderson of Fall City and Maureen Walsh of
Walla Walla – have thrown their support behind the bill. Several
additional Republicans have said they remain undecided.
All four of the Republican state
senators who helped New York pass a gay marriage law have seen sharp
increases in their fund raising in the six months since the bill
passed.
(Related: NOM
pledges $500,000 to derail gay marriage in New Jersey.)