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Bonneville Seattle is raising funds for the construction of a second Fisher House at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma and we need your help.Redmond pastor says same sex legislation will infringe upon freedom of religion
January 4, 2012 @ 4:19 pm (Updated: 6:22 am - 1/5/12 )
After Governor Gregoire announced on Wednesday she plans to introduce legislation that would allow same sex marriage in Washington state, if passed, the pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond launched his fight.
"As long as the Bible says it's wrong, I'm going to fight against it like it's the last thing I can do," Ken Hutcherson told 97.3 KIRO FM's Dori Monson Show. "It's no different than any other sin. If someone walked around and said 'We want to be a minority because we are divorcees,' I would fight that just as much."
Hutcherson said he believes if same-sex marriage is legal, everyone will be forced to accept the lifestyle.
"It's going to infringe upon my freedom of religion. Every place this has become the law of the land, you are muzzled about what you can say about the issue of homosexuality."
Gregoire said she has struggled with the issue for the last seven years and now she is finally acting on what her head and heart have been telling her to do for years. It's also Gregoire's last year as governor.
"This is the year they think they have to do it in this state or they're not going to get it. Just as hard as they're fighting to get it, I'm going to fight for them not to get it because it's going to have repercussions in this state and in the U.S. that you and I are going to regret over the years."
Hutcherson said he'd rather the governor put the issue on the ballot because he knows the people of Washington state would reject making same-sex marriage legal. If the voters approved it, he said he'd accept it as the will of the people, "but the will of the people isn't always right."
Democratic Sen. Ed Murray of Seattle and Rep. Jamie Pederson, D-Seattle, said a bill would be introduced next week. They said that they would not attach a referendum clause to the bill, which would require the public to ultimately approve the measure if passed by the Legislature.
By Stephanie Klein, MyNorthwest.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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