Tag: washington united for marriage

State election offices aren't expected to release anymore numbers until early evening, but Washington United for Marriage is declaring victory on Referendum 74.

“This is a clear win,” said WUM campaign manager Zach Silk in a press release.

It’s not official yet, but with the looks of things there could be lots of wedding bells sounding on Dec. 9 — the day same-sex marriage certificates can formally be signed in Washington State.
As of midnight, with half of the expected ballots turned in, Referendum 74 was passing with 52 percent of the vote, according to the Washington Secretary of State.

In the headquarters of Washington United for Marriage, a large collage displays a list of the high-powered sponsors backing the ballot-measure campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

With its relatively low churchgoing population and social libertarianism, Washington may be the state where voters are most likely to approve gay marriage next month

Member’s of Spokane’s progressive faith community gathered outside Double Tree Hotel on Tuesday to show their support for Referendum 74, while Rick Santorum spoke against gay marriage at a ticketed lunch inside.

About 15 clergy and 40 lay people came together to demonstrate, through Rally For Love, that not all people of faith agree with Santorum’s views on family and marriage.

Churches are being reminded this week that collecting money for a political cause is not OK.

Washington State’s Public Disclosure Commission recently learned that Bishop Joseph Tyson, of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima, sent a letter to pastors in 41 churches asking them to take up a special collection for Preserve Marriage Washington, the campaign opposed to the state’s same-sex marriage law.

Today’s headlines have been dominated by the news that Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’s donated $2.5 million to the Washington United for Marriage campaign. You may recall last month Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmerand co-founder Bill Gates each donated $100,000 in support of Referendum 74. This news is definitely a game changer for the campaign.

Washington conservatives hailed victory this month by collecting double the signatures needed to send the state’s same-sex marriage bill to voters in the upcoming general election. Although leaders from Preserve Marriage Washington are confident residents will vote to keep marriage between a man and a woman, a wild card lies in their path — one worth more than 4 million votes.