Domestic partnership bill moves forward

OLYMPIA – A handful of states including California, New Jersey and Hawaii currently provide legal protections for same-sex couples. With legislation aimed at providing domestic partnership benefits clearing its first legislative hurdle today, Washington took a step at becoming the next state to join the list.

Senate Bill 5336 was approved by the state Senate Government Operations & Elections Committee. The bill extends domestic partnership protections to same-sex couples similar to those which cover married couples. These protections include hospital visitation rights, the right to make health care decisions for an unconscious loved one, the right to make funeral arrangements funerals and inheritance rights.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the prime sponsor of the bill, is the only openly gay member of the Senate. Last week, he sat before the committee with his longtime partner Michael Shiosaki, and personalized what its passage would mean to them.

“One day, nature will take its course, and one of us will be seriously ill and hospitalized,” Murray said. “This legislation would protect us in our right to visit each other. One day, one of us will die, and this legislation would protect our right for the surviving partner to bury the other.”

SB 5336 is expected to be considered by the full Senate in the coming weeks.

Return to Sen. Murray's home page