Major Gay Marriage Ruling in Washington State

I wasn't able to get around to this story last night thanks to Blogger acting up and eating my posts, but the Washington State Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage threw a lot of cold water on a lot of folks who were standing at the altar waiting to say "I do", or who were going to jump on a plane to Seattle to do the same:

The state Supreme Court upheld a ban on gay marriage Wednesday, saying lawmakers have the power to restrict marriage to unions between a man and woman.

The 5-4 decision disappointed gay marriage advocates and left Massachusetts as the only state that grants full marriage rights to gay couples.

The decision was the latest in a series of significant court rulings favoring gay marriage opponents. New York's high court dealt gay couples another blow earlier this month when it ruled that a state law limiting marriage to between a man and a woman was constitutional.

In the Washington decision, the court overruled two lower courts that had found the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, which limits marriage to opposite-sex couples, violated the state constitution and its Equal Rights Amendment.

What made this ruling even more significant than the ruling in Massachusetts that legalized gay marriage in that state was the fact that there is no residency requirement for marriage licenses in Washington as there is in Massachusetts. Consequently, legalizing gay marriage in Washington would have allowed people to come from anywhere in the country (or the world for that matter) and legally purchase a marriage license. How then are other states supposed to deal with those licenses? That's the problem.

However, the liberal state's Supreme Court made that all moot with their ruling. It's kind of interesting when you consider that in three of the more liberal states (Massachusetts, New York and Washington), two of the three have rejected gay marriage.

P.S. Is it mere coincidence that this ruling came down as Andrew Jackson was visiting Seattle on vacation? Perhaps a little welcome home gift for Andy? Could be....