Our President Brian Brown interviewed by Reuters in response to the news that Gov. Gregoire is supporting redefining marriage through the legislature:

...Brian Brown, president of the 800,000-member Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for Marriage, told Reuters his nonprofit group would lobby against gay marriage in Washington state.

"The people of this country believe that marriage is a union of a man and a woman," Brown said in a telephone interview. "I expect the legislature in Washington state will stand up for this commitment and vote to protect marriage."

Republican state lawmakers also criticized Gregoire's gay marriage proposal as a potential diversion from Washington's $1.5 billion budget shortfall. Republican state Senator Dan Swecker called the move "bad timing and a bad idea."

Gregoire, a Catholic, has not always been a public supporter of gay marriage, but moved the issue to the fore in May 2009 when she signed a bill granting domestic partners the same rights as married couples so long as they did not conflict with federal law. Voters narrowly approved the measure in a referendum later in the year.