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WA Senate approves bill to legalize gay marriage
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Senate passed a bill Wednesday night that would legalize same-sex marriage, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.
The measure now heads to the House, which is expected to approve it and could take action on it as early as next week. Gov. Chris Gregoire supports the measure and has said she will sign it into law, though opponents have promised to challenge it at the ballot with a referendum.
The packed public galleries burst into applause as the Senate passed the measure on a 28-21 vote after nearly an hour and a half of debate. Four Republicans crossed party lines and voted with majority Democrats for the measure. Three Democrats voted against it.
Democratic Sen. Ed Murray, the bill's sponsor, said he knew same-sex marriage "is as contentious as any issue that this body has considered in its history."
Lawmakers who vote against gay marriage "are not, nor should they be accused of bigotry," he said.
"Those of us who support this legislation are not, and we should not be accused of, undermining family life or religious freedom," said Murray, a gay lawmaker from Seattle who has spearheaded past gay rights and domestic partnership laws in the state. "Marriage is how society says you are a family."
