Just days after the 9th Circuit repealedCalifornia’s “Prop-8” ban on same sex marriage, the Washington State House passed a same sex marriage bill by a vote of 55-43. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Chris Gregoire in the coming weeks. After her signature, the law will go into effect in 90 days, meaning the first marriages can take place as early as May, 2012.
In November 2008, Connecticut became the third state to legalize same sex marriage with the decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court in the case of Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, 289 Conn. 135 (2008).
New York, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia have also passed laws allowing same-sex marriages.
