Supreme Court Rules Anti-Gay Referendum 71 Signatures Be Made Public

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the names of individuals who signed a petition in an effort to repeal a new gay rights law in Washington State must be made public. Protect Marriage Washington had requested that the justices shield the names of the 138,000 people who signed Referendum 71 petitions in an attempt to overturn the state’s same sex domestic partner law. The Referendum did not pass, state constituents ultimately voting to uphold the legislation. Protect Marriage Washington argued that protected privacy was paramount in political speech, and that petition signers would be subject to harassment and threats if their identities were to be revealed. The State argued that there are laws in place to protect those who may be threatened. It is not yet known when the names of those who signed R-71 petitions will be made public.