We heard this from our friends at the Greater Seattle Business Association and are passing it on to our readers...

 
If the voters of Washington don't APPROVE REFERENDUM 71, gay and lesbian families and senior couples will lose important protections already passed by the legislature. Washington families need the protections provided by the domestic partnership law. Please vote Approve on Referendum 71.      
 
It's no wonder that the Approve 71 campaign has been endorsed by so many organizations, labor unions, religious leaders and major corporations. It's also no surprise that newspapers large and small across the state have endorsed Approve on Referendum 71.  
 
To find out more about Referendum 71, view an ad for the Approve 71 campaign which features Charlene Strong and reminds us of how vulnerable gay and lesbian families were before the legislature established the domestic partnership registry in 2007. Now the legislature has included such protections as the right for domestic partners to take leave from work to care for a critically ill partner without fear of being fired. Like all the protections contained in the domestic partnership law, legally married couples already have this protection.
 
Colorado based Focus on the Family has just dumped nearly $100,000 into the campaign to take protections away from domestic partners. Their use of what is called an independent expenditure allows them to skirt Washington state's campaign finance law meant to limit last minute dumps of money into elections. You can help counter this out of state effort to take away protections from Washington families by mailing in your ballot today with the Approve Referendum 71 bubble filled in. And please consider making a contribution to the Approve 71 campaign so that they can increase voter contact in the final days of the campaign to counter the influence of  Focus on the Family.
 
To learn more, including volunteer opportunities, visit www.Approve71.org.
 
VOTE APPROVE ON REFERENDUM 71