Originally published November 3, 2009 at 11:10 PM | Page modified November 4, 2009 at 3:31 AM
Comments (171)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Danny Westneat
Right here, right now, history is incubating
There's a week's worth of ballot-counting remaining in an election everyone is saying is too-close-to-call. But it appears Washington state will be the first in America to approve a gay-equality measure not by court fiat or legislative action, but by the direct will of the people.
![]() |
Seattle Times staff columnist
Gays can't win at the ballot box.
That has always been the harsh reality. Put the subject of equality for gays and lesbians to a vote of the people — practically any people, in states from deep red to dark blue — and the people have always said: "No. Not here. Not yet."
Until — it appears — now. Right here.
There's a week's worth of ballot-counting remaining in an election everyone is saying is too-close-to-call. But it appears Washington state will be the first in America to approve a gay-equality measure not by court fiat or legislative action, but by the direct will of the people.
It's never happened before. If the slim lead holds for the gay-partnership law Referendum 71, it would be a landmark. Huge.
Not because the law that was on the ballot Tuesday is the last word in this debate.
But because the vote signals, finally, a tipping point of sorts — a bellwether of public acceptance — that has eluded gays and lesbians forever.
Yes, a town here or a county there has voted on the pro-gay side over the years. Usually to bar overt acts of discrimination against gays (which Seattle voters did way back in 1978).
But no state has ever approved a pro-gay vote. The opposite, in fact — dozens of states have voted overwhelmingly to outlaw gay marriage, domestic partnerships or even the ability to adopt kids. Those votes actively consigned gays and lesbians to second-class-citizen status.
In 1997, even supposedly liberal, libertarian Washington rejected a gay anti-discrimination law by a landslide, 60 percent to 40 percent. That vote set back the drive for gay equality here by nearly a decade.
And on Tuesday, voters in Maine repealed a gay-marriage law that had been passed by that state's Legislature.
The vote here on Tuesday was far from a landslide. But in it you could see the slow wheel of societal change turning.
![]()
Referendum 71, which grants "everything but marriage" rights to gay and lesbian couples (going well beyond the scope of the 1997 anti-discrimination law that was blasted at the ballot box), was receiving slightly more than half the vote. Voters were approving it in most Western Washington counties around Puget Sound, and rejecting it in the rest of the state.
The take-away: The gay-rights movement has won over to its side 10 to 12 percent of this state in the past dozen years.
That's about 1 percent per year. That may not seem like much. But sweeping political change occurs when the center 5 or 10 percent shifts to the other side.
When it comes to gay acceptance, that shift has now happened. That's the big story of Election 2009. And it's going to keep inching like that, a mostly one-way tide. Toward equality.
Speaking of tides, the economic anxiety that buoyed Republicans and anti-tax candidates in other parts of the nation failed to buoy initiative huckster Tim Eyman here.
His Initiative 1033 went down to defeat, even though he had said (and I felt he was right) that this year was one of the best political climates he'd had for passing one of his government-restricting measures.
Maybe this initiative was just a particularly bad idea (it was). Or maybe the slow wheel of change has tilted against Eyman, too. Time for him to take the hint.
Danny Westneat's column appears Wednesday and Sunday. Reach him at 206-464-2086 or dwestneat@seattletimes.com.
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Danny Westneat: Bonus for supe with a B minus?
Danny Westneat takes an opinionated look at the Puget Sound region's news, people and politics. Send tips or comments to dwestneat@seattletimes.com. His column runs Wednesday and Sunday.
dwestneat@seattletimes.com | 206-464-2086
LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham talks about the upcoming MLS Cup final during after a team practice.

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
- Man shot in chest on E. Union Street in Capitol Hill
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- Mariners Blog | A Mariners-Tigers swap makes a whole lot of sense for both teams
- Italian prosecutors request life sentence for UW student
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Mariners to try Dustin Ackley at second base
- Genetics anti-bias law takes effect
- Mariners Blog | Dustin Ackley to move to second base; Mariners add six to 40-man roster
- Senate vote clears hurdle
195 - First key vote today on Senate health bill
167 - Mariners add six to 40-man roster
140 - Man shot in Capitol Hill
91 - Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
87 - Italian lead prosecutor argues Knox motive was hatred
73 - Saturday links
50 - Bye week answers, volume four
49 - Prosecutor requests life in prison for Amanda Knox
47 - Historic health care bill nears key Senate vote
37
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Nonprofits get creative using Twitter and Facebook to make donation easier
- Great places to cross-country ski for free (or almost) in the Methow
- Lynnwood is reinventing itself — again
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Recipes: Sesame Pork Roast, Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and more
- UW provost tapped for Nike's board
- 175 foster kids in Washington get 'forever families'
- BofA moves to take control of Mastro building in Fremont
- Food-bank donations pour in after theft in Rainier Valley







