Free legal clinic for gays opens tonight

Summer Waldron and her girlfriend bought a house in Issaquah, filled the home with furniture and purchased a car during their three-year relationship.

When the couple split up in April, Waldron believed that because their marriage wasn't legal she couldn't contest in court what she viewed as an inequitable separation of property.

But in recent weeks, the 29-year-old Microsoft contract worker has gotten in contact with staff from a legal clinic that plans to formally open its doors for business in downtown Seattle tonight.

The King County Bar Association, working in conjunction with the GLBT Bar Association Foundation of Washington, has established a free legal clinic for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

The clinics will be held at Equal Rights Washington from 7-9 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. At least two attorneys will be present to help people during 30-minute appointments.

This is the 32nd neighborhood legal clinic put on by the King County Bar Association. Other clinics focus on topics from bankruptcy to family law to immigration to real estate.

Attorney Jill Mullins, who is spearheading the project, said this is the first GLBT legal clinic in the Seattle area. She said the idea developed after she heard a stream of stories from gay couples who have been made to feel "humiliated" and "ashamed" by insurance companies and health-care providers because of their relationships.

"There's a huge amount of unmet legal needs for people out there, primarily because of their status as GLBT people," Mullins said.

In May, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law legislation that expands previous domestic-partnership laws, adding such partnerships to all remaining areas of state law that now address only married couples. Protect Marriage Washington, a public action committee, is seeking to have the law repealed.

"We want people to understand and learn that there are protections available for them," Mullins said.

Rebecca Fogarty, who directs the King County Bar Association's neighborhood law clinics, said that in the past, members of the GLBT community have sought legal help through their family-law clinics. But, she added, attorneys at these clinics haven't always been familiar with the issues members of that community face.

Waldron, who now lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, said she plans to consult with members of the new clinic to find out if she's entitled to alimony.

"When I split from my partner I didn't know what to do. I'm gay, I don't have any protections, so I need to hang my head and keep on walking," Waldron added. "It's good there are people out there who want to build protections."

Information from The Seattle Times archives is contained in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com