H-3426.2          _______________________________________________

                                  HOUSE BILL 2262

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State of Washington              54th Legislature             1996 Regular Session

By Representatives Thompson, Koster, Carrell, Hargrove, Stevens, Mulliken, Fuhrman, Hymes, Crouse, Sterk, Backlund, L. Thomas, McMahan, Beeksma, Pelesky, Johnson and Casada

Read first time 01/09/96.  Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

Prohibiting marriages between two persons of the same gender.

     AN ACT Relating to marriages; amending RCW 26.04.020; and adding a new section to chapter 26.04 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     Sec. 1.  RCW 26.04.020 and 1927 c 189 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Marriages in the following cases are prohibited:

     (((1))) (a) When either party thereto has a wife or husband living at the time of such marriage((.));

     (((2))) (b) When the parties thereto are nearer of kin to each other than second cousins, whether of the whole or half blood computing by the rules of the civil law; or

(c) When the parties are persons of the same gender.

     (((3))) (2) It shall be unlawful for any man to marry his father's sister, mother's sister, daughter, sister, son's daughter, daughter's daughter, brother's daughter or sister's daughter; it shall be unlawful for any woman to marry her father's brother, mother's brother, son, brother, son's son, daughter's son, brother's son or sister's son.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 26.04 RCW to read as follows:

     A marriage that is valid in another jurisdiction but is prohibited under RCW 26.04.020 shall not be recognized as a valid marriage in this state.

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