2 Sen. McDermott-sponsored civil-rights bills win Senate votes

Late night for legislators in Olympia. Senate Democrats have sent word that two bills with sponsors including West Seattle State Sen. Joe McDermott have passed: SB 5688, extending “full marital benefits” to domestic partnerships, and SB 5952, which, as described in a news release, “add(s) ‘transgendered’ to the definition of sexual orientation that is in the state’s hate crime statute.” Both have companion bills that have to be voted on by the full State House — you can check their status through the pages for each Senate bill (linked to their numbers above).

E March 11, 2009 (8:40 am)

Go Joe!

bunnypug March 11, 2009 (8:56 am)

Go Joe indeed!

Great to see our State Senator standing up for equality.

matthew darling March 11, 2009 (11:22 am)

this is fantastic

TSmit March 11, 2009 (1:43 pm)

What about rights for the polyamorous too! Go Joe!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008829824_polyamory09m.html

Cynthia March 11, 2009 (4:25 pm)

Great job, Joe! Thank you, and thanks to all the legislators who worked on these bills and voted for them. Also all of the people who volunteered, wrote or called their senator, etc. Equal Rights Washington http://www.equalrightswashington.org did a great job of education and advocacy on these bills. This is a great win for all of our families!

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