Local reactions vary to same-sex marriage rulings

The News Tribune | Nicole Gaddie

Gay rights supporters in Pierce County enthusiastically celebrated the demise of the federal Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday.

“It’s a giant step in the right direction,” said Kawika Ridep, a marketer for The Mix, a downtown Tacoma bar. “One thing it says is that everyone should be equal in the United States. I see it is a historic day for the lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender community. Equality is still not there, but it is a historic day.”

“I think it’s a good decision,” said Kelly Watson, a bartender at Club Silverstone in Tacoma. “But I think it’s kind of silly that it has to be such a big deal.”

Others expressed uncertainty about the breadth of changes the ruling is likely to bring.

“There are currently something like 1,138 federal laws that affect marriage,” said John McCluskey, a retired Tacoma tax accountant and a long-time gay rights advocate. “It’s kind of hard to fathom what all this will mean.”

Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington and prominent opponent to same-sex marriage in the state, released a statement following the decision.

“Those who want to redefine marriage suffered an important defeat today,” he said. “The Supreme Court refused to declare a constitutional right to same-sex ‘marriage,’ and rejected their request to impose a redefinition of marriage on all fifty states. This decision means that this important debate will continue state by state across the country.”

The National Organization for Marriage, which helped back the effort to oppose same-sex marriage in Washington, also commented on the decision.

“It’s wrong, plain and simple,” president Brian Brown said. “I’ve got a message for the Supreme Court: We’re not going to take their wrong decisions sitting down.”

The ruling will immediately extend many benefits to couples in Washington and the other states where same-sex marriage is legal, but the ultimate reach of the ruling is still unknown, said Michelle Douglas, executive director of Rainbow Center.

“What’s most important to remember is this increases or adds to more than a thousand federal protections,” Douglas said. “What the exact nuances are going to be, we really don’t know yet. But we do know that we are incredibly excited.”

“It opens up a federal door that basically has been slammed shut to us,” Douglas said.

“It also sends a message to the rest of the states in the country — the ones that have not approved gay marriage,” Douglas said. “The message to them is that the federal tide is changing and the tide of the United States is changing.

“Their objections become less and less defensible with every bit of legislation like this that passes.”

Rep. Laurie Jinkins, a Tacoma Democrat and attorney who is the state’s first openly lesbian lawmaker, said she “spent the day between tears of joy and just being very, very happy — in amongst all the unhappy legislative things that are going on. My feeling is, we’re on this very long road with this. We’re not at the end yet. There’s much more work to do. But this ruling is a gigantic step forward.”