Justin Silves, a Washington resident
and gay marriage backer, notes in a letter published in the Seattle
Times that the state once banned drunkards and imbeciles from
marrying.
Washington currently recognizes gay and
lesbian couples with domestic partnerships which provide nearly all
the protections of marriage.
But openly gay Washington State Senator
Ed Murray and Representative Jamie Pedersen are expected to introduce
a gay marriage bill in the upcoming legislative session.
Silves noted that the state's 1998
constitution reaffirms the state's “historical commitment to the
institution of marriage as a union between a man and a woman as
husband and wife.”
Those commitments differed slightly in
the constitution's previous iteration. The 1973 version stated that
“such applicant is not feebleminded, an imbecile, insane, a common
drunkard, or afflicted with pulmonary tuberculosis in its advanced
states: Provided, that in addition the affidavit of the male
applicant for such marriage license shall show that such male is not
afflicted with any contagious venereal disease.”
“At this point,” Silves
wrote, “I must ask you, your readers and state government which
'historical commitment to the institution of marriage' is more
detrimental to the state and general public?”