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Aug 25, 2010
A federal judge ruled in mid-August that signed petitions calling for a Washington state vote on expanded domestic partnerships for gay couples are barred from public release while he hears arguments on whether to block them for good.
The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in June that release of the signatures does not violate constitutional rights, but said the group behind the Washington state initiative can still try to prove the release would put petition signers in danger.
Referendum 71 asked voters to either keep or reject the “everything but marriage” law that expanded already established domestic partnerships for gay couples in Washington. It was approved last fall with 53 percent of the vote.
Protect Marriage Washington, which was opposed to the new law, spearheaded the effort to get the referendum on the ballot.
The group turned in nearly 138,000 signatures last July, with 121,780 being accepted and qualifying for the ballot. Two gay rights groups, WhoSigned.Org and KnowThyNeighbor.org, previously said they would post the names online, sparking legal action to keep them private.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle extended a restraining order that bars public release of the signatures while the case moves forward.
From WiG and AP reports
