Protect Marriage Washington’s Petitioners Protected

In 2009, Washington enacted a law expanding the rights of state-registered domestic partners. Soon after, Protect Marriage Washington submitted petitions with almost 150,000 signatures calling for a referendum by the Washington voters. Supporters of the challenged law then asked for the names and addresses of those who signed the petitions.

After the Supreme Court rejected Protect Marriage Washington’s broad constitutional arguments, the organization narrowed its argument. On Wednesday, Protect Marriage Washington succeeded when U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle ordered the state of Washington to keep the names and addresses of the petition signers private.

See Judge Blocks Release of Petition Signers’ Names in Gay Rights Case, The Blog of Legal Times, Aug. 12, 2010.