Seattle residents, elected officials plan final weeks of campaign

by Shaun Knittel - SGN Associate Editor

As opponents of the freedom to marry welcomed former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum to two marquee fundraising events in Washington state this week, LGBTQ and Allied community members did not lay out the welcome mat for a man who has dedicated his political career to stripping away the rights and freedoms awarded LGBT people. On October 10, concerned citizens and supporters of the Approve Referendum 74 campaign gathered at Seattle First Baptist Church (1111 Harvard Ave.) for a pro-marriage equality event that featured U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine, just to name a few.

Washington United for Marriage, the central campaign leading the charge to Approve Referendum 74 in November, released a statement on its website earlier this week that read, 'The people fighting marriage equality say they respect Gays and Lesbians, but they've shown their true colors by inviting Rick Santorum to their fundraisers. Let's tell them that Rick Santorum doesn't represent Washington values!'

Nearly 100 people showed up on Wednesday night to donate money to Washington United for Marriage, sign up to phone-bank, and share in the common theme of the night - Washington State is poised to be the first in the nation to secure marriage equality by popular vote.

REPUBLICAN SUPPORT
Washington United for Marriage (WUM) recently debuted its latest TV ad, featuring Republican State Rep. Maureen Walsh, who talks eloquently about her own marriage and why it's important to include all loving couples.

'Two national Republican leaders, Margaret Hoover and Meghan McCain, who often talk about the party's younger generation, decry [Santorum's] harsh and hurtful rhetoric towards Gay and Lesbian people and their families that has marked his public career,' Washington United for Marriage Press Secretary Andy Grow said in a letter to supporters. 'McCain and Hoover question the choice of Santorum, who has equated Gay and Lesbian relationships with bestiality, polygamy, adultery, and incest.'

'These two national Republican leaders have it right - Referendum 74 is a nonpartisan issue and Santorum represents possibly the very worst views of the past when it comes to including loving Gay and Lesbian couples in marriage,' said WUM campaign manager Zach Silk. 'Both Hoover and McCain represent a growing number of Republicans who don't understand why someone like Rick Santorum, with his extreme views, can still get center-stage on this basic question of freedom and fairness.'

McCain, an MSNBC contributor, columnist for the Daily Beast, and daughter of Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, says the choice of Santorum contradicts the Republican Party she and others believe is more broadly representative and welcoming.

'Every day more and more Republicans at the national and state level support the freedom to marry - from Vice President Dick Cheney to Barbara Bush to my own mother,' said McCain. 'This is not a partisan issue. Fewer and fewer people in our party support the kind of intolerant rhetoric that Senator Rick Santorum has used through the years to talk about Gay and Lesbian Americans.'

Santorum's appearances, October 9 in Spokane and October 10 in Bellevue, were closed to the press.

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