December 13, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Marriages
Continued from page A-1
and have an 18-month-old
daughter together, with an-
other daughter due in April.
"We've considered our-
selves married since then,"
Marja said. "It will be really
nice to have some sort of gov-
ernment recognition."
'Wow I can say "Yes rm
married,' "Beth added.
Throughout their relation-
ship, the Stowells have seen
many changes in rights given
to gay couples. The first, they
said, was when same-sex cou-
ples were allowed to enter into
domestic partnerships.
While domestic partner-
ships conferred many of the
rights of marriage to gay cou-
ples, such as rights to their
partner's pension, the Stowells
said getting married was about
more than a legal definition.
"I think it's a matter of re-
spect," Marja said.
Also, when she was preg-
nant with their daughter,
Atley, Marja said the law
changed aga anowing both
mothers to have their names
on their daughter's birth cer-
tificate. Before then, Beth
would have had to apply for
adoption to have parental
rights to Atley.
In the weeks leading up to
the referendum's becoming
law, the Mason County Au-
ditor's Office had to redo its
marriage applications to ac-
commedate the new law.
"Any time there's any
change in legislation, it is cost-
ly because we had to create all
new forms," Mason County
Auditor Karen Herr said.
"Bride and groom, husband
and wife, all that terminology
has changed."
In the place of terms such
as husband and wife, county
marriage applications now
read "Applicant A" and '~kppli-
"cant B."
In order to apply for a mar-
riage license, couples can go to
the auditor's office and fill out
the county's application. Both
applicants need to be at least
18 years old, and pay a $64 fee.
Aiter applying, a couple
must wait three days to have
a marriage cei~emony. '-
The Stowells were married
by a family friend in a small cer-
emony Sunday, and plan on hav-
ing a larger party to celebrate
the marriage this summer.
After applying for the li-
cense, a couple gets a marriage
packet, including the Wash-
ington State Department of
Healths (DOH) marriage cer-
tificate, and separate certificate
of marriage and marriage li-
cense, to be filled out by whom-
ever officiates the wedding.
Herr said the DOH form
was only approved by the
state three days before the ref-
erendum became law.
Couples have 60 days to
have their wedding officiated
ai~r applying for the mar-
riage license.
Herr said she saw ~moder-
ate" interest from community
members about the new law,
but added she wasn't sure how
many couples to expect.
"A lot of people were calling
to check on our hours," Herr
said. "We've gotten a moderate
amount of phone calls -- we
did not know what to expect."
The new law also recog-
nizes same-sex marriages
performed in other states as
valid, but a same-sex couple's
Washington marriage license
may not be accepted as valid
in other states.
According to the law, ex-
isUng domestic partnerships
between same sex partners in
Washington will be automati-
cally converted to marriage on
June 30, 2014, unless at least
one partner is 62 years of age
or older on that date.
Referendum 74 passed state-
wide with 53.7 percent of the
vote. Mason County residents
voted against the referendum
with 52 percent voting no. The
election Was certified statewide
on Dec. 6.
Both Lauzon and Barr
agreed that Mason County has
become more accepting of same-
sex couples in recent years.
"It's a lot more (tolerant)
than it used to be," Barr said.
The Stowells agreed, saying
they felt welcome in the area.
"I've never felt discriminat-
ed against," Beth said.
The couple stressed that
their marriage does not affect
anyone else's.
• '~obody's vocal and I ap-
preciate that," Marja said. "I
think the people who are really
against us are going to find out
it doesn't affect their lives."
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Shelton-Mason County Journal- Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 -Page A-5