Andersen V. King County - Aftermath

Aftermath

Gay marriage supporters considered the procreation argument bogus and proposed Initiative 957 to challenge the court's assertion. If passed by voters, Initiative 957 would have required that all marriages recognized by the state have produced offspring within three years of their solemnization. The initiative was created by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance, a gay rights group. The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance hoped to use this to create a test case in order to have a court strike down the measure and highlight what they perceive as weaknesses within the logic of Andersen. The initiative was filed on January 10, 2007 and withdrawn on July 3, 2007 after sponsors collected about 40,000 signatures, which was too few to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage passed the Legislature and was signed by governor Christine Gregoire on February 13, 2012, but opponents gathered enough signatures to force a voter referendum on the legislation. The law was upheld in November 2012, making gay marriage legal beginning December 6.