The Senate passed the marriage redefinition bill Feb. 2, 2012. It is now being sent to the House, where it will have to go through a committee and be passed by a majority vote of state representatives. The House could also propose additional amendments.

In addition to the changes made in committee, the Senate approved seven floor amendments to Senate Bill 6239. The Senate rejected four amendments.

The first floor amendment approved removed the intent section from the beginning of the bill.

The second floor amendment approved moved protections for pastors and churches, previously in two separate sections of the bill, both into Section 2. The protections for churches had previously formed their own section of the bill, but there was apparently some concern that the governor could have vetoed that section, since it wasn't necessary for the rest of the bill to be implemented. The amendment also made changes to the protections, including the addition of language allowing pastors to refuse to provide marital or pre-marital counseling.

The third floor amendment approved prohibits state agencies and local governments from discriminating against religious organizations that refuse to provide goods or services for same-sex "weddings."

The fourth floor amendment approved protects "religiously affiliated educational institutions," such as Christian universities, from being forced to accommodate same-sex "weddings."

The fifth floor amendment approved encourages the courts to interpret the term "religious organization" broadly to include religious charitable organizations, such as Christian adoption agencies.

The sixth floor amendment approved changes some of the terminology and adds a definition affecting who can solemnize a marriage.

The seventh floor amendment approved declares that the bill won't affect how children can be placed for foster care or adoption by religious or nonprofit organizations.

The Senate refused to pass an amendment which would have explicitly allowed religious organizations to refuse to place children with same-sex couples.

The Senate rejected an amendment which would have allowed judges and court commissioners to refuse to solemnize marriages if doing so would be "contrary to [their] sincerely-held religious beliefs regarding marriage in violation of [their] right to free exercise of religion guaranteed by the Frist [sic] Amendment to the United States Constitution or by the Washington State Constitution."

The Senate also rejected an amendment which would have allowed individuals and private entities to refuse to provide accommodations, services, or goods for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage contrary to their religious beliefs.

The last amendment rejected by the Senate would have added a referendum clause to the bill, referring the decision of whether the bill becomes law to the public.

A list of senators voting for and against Substitute Senate Bill 6239 is available on the legislature's website. If you haven't already done so, please contact your representatives in the House regarding this bill. 

This information was complied by the Family Policy Institute of Washington.

The Family Policy Institute of Washington is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting public policy that recognizes the significance and sanctity of the family in Washington State.