Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signs legislation to expand rights to domestic partners

05/18/09 press release by Governor Gregorie:

"SEATTLE – At a ceremony in Seattle today, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5688, which ensures that under state law state-registered domestic partners are treated the same as married spouses ... This new legislation requires state agencies to ensure that all privileges, immunities, rights, benefits, or responsibilities granted to married individuals are granted to an individual who is or was in a state registered domestic partnership."

05/16/09 BEYOND (STRAIGHT AND GAY MARRIAGE):

American University Law Professor Nancy Polikoff takes this occasion to note that Washington is the only state in the U.S. that gives "both married and unmarried couples (different-sex and same-sex) the same rules of property division when they split up."In this respect, Washington state has "gone part of the distance towards recognizing that marriage (and now registration as domestic partners) shouldn't be the dividing line between relationships that count and those that don't."