http://www.komonews.com/news/local/gay-marriage-137909658.html


K&R

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/gay-marriage-137909658.html

Wash. has enough votes to legalize gay marriage
By RACHEL LA CORTE and MIKE BAKER Associated Press Published: Jan 23, 2012 at 12:11 PM PST

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington's Legislature has enough votes to legalize gay marriage with a statement from Democratic Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen Monday who said she will support the measure, becoming the 25th vote needed to pass the bill out of the Senate. The House already has enough support, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has endorsed the plan.

Washington would become the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriages, following New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Washington state has had a domestic partnership law since 2007, and an "everything but marriage" law since 2009.

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She said she took her time making up her mind to "to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy. This is the right vote and it is the vote I will cast when this measure comes to the floor."

That is all.