Gay partnership foes, supporters in Washington state await federal court ruling on signatures

Gay partnership foes, backers in WA await ruling

SEATTLE — Supporters and foes of gay domestic partnerships await a federal ruling from a three-judge panel on whether petitions for Washington states’s Referendum 71 should be made public.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday in Pasadena, Calif., on whether signatures collected to repeal a domestic partnership law passed by the Washington Legislature during the last session should be released.

R-71 asks voters to approve or reject a new law expanding domestic partnerships for gay couples.

The referendum’s conservative sponsors want to keep their signed petitions out of public view, because they fear harassment from gay-rights supporters.

A federal judge in Tacoma granted the sponsors’ request in September. But the state is appealing, citing its open-government laws.