Equal Rights Washington

Equal Rights Washington

Equal Rights Washington's primary 501(c)(4) logo
US State of Washington
Formation	2004
Type	501(c)(3)
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington
Area served	Washington
Key people	Monisha Harrell, board chair
Mission	Equal Rights Washington (ERW) works to ensure and promote dignity, safety, and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Washington residents.
Website	equalrightswashington.org

Equal Rights Washington (ERW) is Washington’s largest statewide LGBT advocacy and community outreach organization. ERW's mission is to ensure and promote dignity, safety, and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Washingtonians.

Equal Rights Washington consists of three organizations: Equal Rights Washington, a 501(c)(4) organization which focuses on political advocacy, ERW Education + Engagement, a 501(c)(3) organization which focuses on public education with regard to LGBTQ issues in Washington, and ERW Political Action, a registered political action committee which exists to provide support to equality-minded candidates for elected office in Washington state. Each of these subsidiary organizations are headed by independent boards of directors, in accordance and compliance with state and federal law.

Many of ERW's founders and leaders made their entrance into the world of politics during the Hands Off Washington campaign between 1993 and 1997.

ERW was founded in 2004 to assist in the passage of Washington State's LGBT anti-discrimination bill, which for 28 years had been introduced in the state legislature, but never passed. In 2006, ERW played a crucial role in securing the passage of this legislation, Washington House Bill 2661. ERW was also a central player in the fight to have the Washington State Supreme Court give marriage rights to same-sex couples. In 2006, the Court decided not to grant those rights.

In 2007, ERW supported the successful passage of Washington State's domestic partner law, which granted several of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples. In 2008 over 100 additional state-level benefits of marriage were added to the original domestic partnership law, and in 2009 the remaining rights afforded to opposite-sex married couples were granted to same-sex partners via the state's domestic partnership law. This was thanks largely to the work of Equal Rights Washington and its coalition partners across the state. Throughout the expansion of the domestic partnership rights, Equal Rights Washington was very clear that its intention was to continue to publicize, educate about and advocate for its belief that nothing short of full and actual marriage equality is sufficient for families in Washington headed by same-sex couples.