Washington Voters Approve Expanding Domestic Partnership Rights

Voters in Washington State have approved a new "everything but marriage" law that expands the rights of domestic partners.

The measure asked voters to approve or reject an expansion to the state's domestic partnership laws, granting rights that, until now, have only been given to married couples.

The new law gives domestic partners:

• The right to use sick leave to care for their partner
• Rights to wages and benefits if their partner is injured, as well as to unpaid wages if their partner dies
• Rights to unemployment and disability insurance benefits
• Rights to workers' compensation coverage
• Insurance rights, such as rights under group policies, policy rights after the death of a domestic partner, conversion rights, and continuing coverage rights
• Rights relating to adoption, child custody, and child support
• Business succession rights

According to the Washington Secretary of State's Office, the new law will take effect on December 3.

While results of the voting won't be officially known until Thursday, poll workers expect the measure to pass about 52% to 48%. So far, only 72% of the votes have been counted, due to the large amount of Washington residents who vote by mail.

Passing the measure is a milestone in gay rights and equality.  Washington is the first state to pass a voter-approved gay rights measure at the ballot box, rather than the legislature or the courts implementing the law.

The bill covers all domestic partnerships, not just those involving gay or lesbian couples.  Under Washington law, heterosexual couples can register as domestic partners if one partner is at least 62 years old.

There are currently 12,000 registered domestic partners in the state.

For more information about same-sex couple issues, click here to find a family law attorney near you!