Microsoft supports Wash. gay partner law with $100K gift
Wed. October 7, 2009 12:00 AM by OnTopMag.com
Seattle -
Seattle-based Microsoft Corp. has donated $100,000 to the campaign to retain a gay partner law in Washington State, the Seattle Times reported.
The group Washington Families Standing Together is lobbying voters to approve Referendum 71, the ballot measure that puts a gay-inclusive domestic partnership law up for a vote in November. If passed, it would extend a 2007 domestic partnership law for a second time, granting gay and lesbian couples all the remaining state-provided rights, benefits and responsibilities of marriage. The law has been labeled the "everything but marriage" law by the media.
Microsoft's donation is the largest the group has received to date, the paper reported.
Last week, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a resolution urging voters to approve the referendum.
The anti-gay marriage group Protect Marriage Washington submitted nearly 138,000 signatures on July 25, which placed on hold the gay partner law that was scheduled to begin the following day.
Opponents say the domestic partnership law is unlawful because it violates a 1998 gay marriage ban approved by legislators and deemed constitutional by the state's Supreme Court.
Protect Marriage has raised only a fraction of the money reported by gay rights supporters. Washington Families says it has raised $780,000, while donations to Protect Marriage total $60,000.
The group Washington Families Standing Together is lobbying voters to approve Referendum 71, the ballot measure that puts a gay-inclusive domestic partnership law up for a vote in November. If passed, it would extend a 2007 domestic partnership law for a second time, granting gay and lesbian couples all the remaining state-provided rights, benefits and responsibilities of marriage. The law has been labeled the "everything but marriage" law by the media.
Microsoft's donation is the largest the group has received to date, the paper reported.
Last week, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a resolution urging voters to approve the referendum.
The anti-gay marriage group Protect Marriage Washington submitted nearly 138,000 signatures on July 25, which placed on hold the gay partner law that was scheduled to begin the following day.
Opponents say the domestic partnership law is unlawful because it violates a 1998 gay marriage ban approved by legislators and deemed constitutional by the state's Supreme Court.
Protect Marriage has raised only a fraction of the money reported by gay rights supporters. Washington Families says it has raised $780,000, while donations to Protect Marriage total $60,000.
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine