Gay marriage supporters in Washington
state on Friday released their first Referendum 74 ad with Republican
Senator Cheryl Pflug as its star.
Pflug was one of two senators who spoke
out in support of marriage equality as the state Senate debated –
and ultimately approved – a gay marriage bill in January. The
other Republican was Senator Steve Litzow.
Referendum 74 will ask voters in
November to either uphold or overturn the marriage law.
“I know a number of gay and lesbian
couples that have been together for 40 years,” Pflug says in the
30-second spot. “I saw in these couples love, commitment, a
sharing of a life together – everything that makes for a good
marriage.”
“As a Republican, I believe in
freedom. And that includes the freedom to marry the person you
love,” she adds. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The ad debuted during the Olympics
opening ceremony and will run several times a day in three Washington
media markets over the course of the next two weeks.
The television advertisement was paid
for by Seattle-based Pride Foundation, whose executive director, Kris
Hermanns, would only tell the AP that the ad buy “will be in the
six figures.”