I applaud the Washington State legislature for creating the domestic parnership registry in 2007, and for passing the domestic partnership expansion bill in 2008.

I believe the freedom to marry is a basic human right and the decision to marry is a deeply personal choice.

Marriage is about love commitment and mutual concern. Legal marriage brings with it over 1,400 legal rights--over 1,100 federal protections and several hundred state rights.

Ending the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage will help families and harm no one.

At issue is civil marriage, not religious marriage. Faith traditions will always have the right to decide at what weddings to officiate and what marriages to recognize.

Denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry stigmatizes all members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as second-class citizens. The harm extends far beyond couples and includes their children, their extended families and gay youth as well. Particularly hard hit are older gay couples and surviving partners.

I stand ready to support the freedom to marry by talking to friends and family about the importance of marriage equality and the obstacles gay and lesbian families face everyday because they lack the freedom to marry.

In knowing that a copy of this petition will be sent to elected leaders, I add my voice to the hundreds of thousands across the country who are willing to lobby our legislators in support of ending the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage.