Dear Friend,

The Far-Right is on the move.

A consortium of  reactionary organizations filed Referendum 71, aimed at repealing the domestic partnership expansion law of 2009 passed earlier this year by the legislature.  A Seattle Times article covering the filing is posted below.

Your support of ERW’s Political Action Committee will allow us to immediately gear up to soundly defeat this effort! It's hard to believe that during this time of economic crisis there are organizations that are making their top priority taking away rights from Washington's families.  

Larry Stickney, President of the ultra-conservative Washington Values Alliance indicated they are determined to do whatever it takes to deny gay and lesbian families the rights other families enjoy. Stickney has posted what he calls “Ten Good Reasons to Run a Referendum to Save Marriage Now.” Among those on his list:

2. By running a Referendum, we are required to gather only half the signatures needed for that of an Initiative. [They will need only 120,000 signatures to qualify]
 
3. A Referendum to roll back SB 5688 (which grants full spousal rights for homosexual couples in everything but the name) will keep the law from going into effect and put the measure in front of the voters in November. If we wait, the new law goes into effect in June and the Defense of Marriage Act will be challenged in the courts and likely overturned this same time next year.  We have no time to waste, we have no other recourse, they are inside the wire.  
 
5. A Referendum to the people to roll back Senate Bill 5688 would force our opponents to get the "YES" vote, which is always more difficult. People tend to vote "NO" if confused about an issue. I am told that the advantage for the "NO" side can be as high as 9 - 13%.

6. The economic downturn plays no favorites and has hit our opponents as well. The leading homosexual rights group here in Washington has been forced to trim staff [a direct reference to Equal Rights Washington].
 
9. I believe that Christians are paying more attention to the issues at hand during these rough economic times (because of a new found reliance on the Lord) and are more willing to get involved in political matters than they were during the good times? 

Further, Stickey, in a memo today, stated:  "In truth, it (domestic partnerships) will demolish the state's historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life." 

While the good news is that there is open disagreement between radical right groups about whether this is the right time to do a referendum, we must take the threat of repeal very seriously.

Statewide, the LGBT community and our allies must present a united front and send a solid message that we WILL NOT allow rights to be taken away from LGBT Washingtonians. We must stand together and fight to retain the rights for Washington families!   

We need you to join us with your words, with your actions, and with your financial support. An effort of this magnitude will take people power and money. Without both, we cannot win this fight. 

Your support is critical to the work that lies ahead. We hope you will join us. 

Sincerely,

Connie Watts
Executive Director
Equal Rights Washington

P.S. We will not be successful without you. Please support this work with a contribution today!

Read the Seattle Times article here.