Although the new registered domestic partnership law in Washington State is a very far cry from marriage, it is definitely a step in the right direction. Increasingly, more states are passing either civil unions or domestic partner registrations which in the future will be used in court towards the fight for marriage equality in these states. And of course, the more the citizens of the U.S. begin to realize that even though same-sex couples are marrying, or engaging in civil unions etc, their world essentially remains the same, the less all of this will remain an issue. Already the numbers are changing in the percentage of those citizens who approve of recognition of same-sex couples. The bogey man is being defanged rapidly, and pretty soon we might actually catch up with our neighbours to the north where loving same-sex couples have been granted the right to civil marriage over two years ago.