Court Victory for Approve Referendum 71; Google Endorses Campaign

Opponents of the new "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law in Washington state went to court to fight the donor limit law that restricted funding for their Reject Referendum 71 campaign. They requested an emergency lift on the law.

They didn't get the response they wanted. The Seattle Times reports:

A federal judge has denied emergency requests from a group called Washington Family PAC, which wanted to suspend a ban on large campaign contributions and a requirement to identify donors.

The brand-new political action committee said that the laws were blocking its ability to collect last-minute political contributions in the week before Washington's general election.

A full hearing on the case has not been set.

In other Referendum 71 news, Google has decided to speak up in favor of the Approve 71 campaign which seeks to APPROVE the new domestic partnership law. They sent a letter to the editor of Seattle PI voicing their support.

To the Editor:

Google has a reputation for actively participating in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. However, we do not generally take positions on social, legal or political issues that arise beyond our normal, day-to-day business. With that said, there are issues that are so important and so clear cut that we feel compelled to lend our voice. Supporting Referendum 71 is one of those issues.

To be clear, we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument. Nevertheless, we see this debate as one that comes down to equality, plain and simple. If we believe in equal protection under the law we must, in our view, support a man or woman's right to enjoy the legal benefits of domestic partnerships -- no matter who they love.

For the residents of Washington who want for themselves or their children the right to engage in domestic partnerships, we urge the voters of this state to APPROVE Referendum 71.

Brian Bershad - Engineering and Site Director, Google Seattle

Scott Silver - Engineering and Site Director, Google Kirkland

Get involved! Go to Approve Referendum 71 and protect LGBT rights!