Wash. releases names on anti-gay rights petition

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/17/ap/business/main20121657.shtml

AP) OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state officials on Monday released copies of signature petitions that forced a vote on a 2009 domestic partnership law, disclosing the names of signers after a judge rejected arguments that supporters could be harassed.

The Washington State Archives provided a DVD to The Associated Press showing the 138,000 signatures for Referendum 71. The release came despite an attorney's vow to appeal the ruling and seek temporary protection from the disclosure of names.

Gary Randall, a spokesman for the group Protect Marriage Washington, said he thought it was terrible that the state released the names.

"I believe there will certainly be harassment, and I pray to God there isn't more than that," he said.

Referendum 71 asked voters to approve or reject a domestic partnership law approved by lawmakers and signed by the state's Democratic governor. The law granted registered domestic partners additional state rights previously given only to married couples.

It was scheduled to go into effect in July 2009, but the referendum campaign sponsored by conservative Christian groups put it on hold. Voters that November approved it with 53 percent of the vote — the first time any state's voters have approved a gay equality measure at the ballot box.