Timbre of a TimeFree Mind

Attorneys for 19 lesbian and gay couples, their expectations high, made their case for state-sanctioned civil marriage before the Washington Supreme Court as the state, King County and a group of intervenors argued that the traditional look of marriage should not change.

The celebrated occasion became a spectacle on the Capitol campus as thousands of demonstrators, the majority of them religious opponents of same-sex marriage, filled the air with chants and gospel music. Gay-marriage advocates also turned out, forming a human chain to give some of the plaintiff couples access to the courtroom and later applauding as they left.

David Shull, a pastor at University Congregational United Church of Christ in Seattle, and his partner, Peter Ilgenfritz, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He called the event "totally awesome and humbling at the same time. The possibility of gays and lesbians finally being able to marry is so right."

The few couples who were able to squeeze into the courtroom listened with rapt attention as the justices pelted questions at the attorneys — questions that offered a glimpse at the scope and complexity of the issues they are grappling with.

The legal and social impact of the high court's ruling, which could come by fall, will reach far beyond this state.

A victory by the couples would make Washington the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize marriage for gays and lesbians and the first to give out-of-state same-sex couples that right.

posted by jikido  # 12:17 PM