For the history books

In November 2009, Washington state voters made history by becoming the first in the nation to affirm equal rights under state law for gay and lesbian couples by popular vote.

From California to Maine, anti-gay activists have been successful in defeating or overturning civil rights legislation for gays and lesbians. When Washington State passed the “Everything But Marriage” law in 2009—which afforded the state’s gay, lesbian and senior domestic partners many of the same rights, responsibilities and obligations as heterosexual couples— it was immediately challenged by a group of activists who succeeded in gathering enough signatures to suspend implementation of the law. Despite challenges to the validity of petition signatures and signature gathering techniques, in early September, "Referendum 71" was certified for the state's general election ballot.

Thankfully, because supporters of equality had already mobilized in an effort to keep the referendum off the ballot, a robust coalition of support was already in place. With only five weeks to reach voters before ballots were mailed, Pyramid hit the ground running, joining a campaign run by Washington Families Standing Together to help quickly mobilize voters to  “approve 71.”

Despite tough challenges—like confusion among voters about whether they were supposed to “approve” or “reject” the initiative—and a very short timeframe, the effort was victorious and pro-equality voters came through. With more than 53 percent of the vote, Referendum 71 became just the sixth referendum to be approved in the state’s history.

Read more about Pyramid’s work with Approve 71 here.