Gregoire announced her intent to endorse the legislation in January. The state House of Representatives passed the legislation with a 55-43 vote on Feb. 8. Several corporations, such as Microsoft and Starbucks, supported the bill.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California’s statewide ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional on Feb. 7.

Amy Kennedy and Staci Blow have been in a relationship for six years and now plan to legally marry. Kennedy became pregnant at 19 and married her now ex-husband. Through Kennedy's divorce, Blow was there as a friend and their relationship later progressed to something more.

 “I got married because I was pregnant,” Kennedy said. “I was a stay-at-home wife with a husband that I had issues with. I stayed for the children and for the finances. Four years in, we were not what I pictured to be a loving, married couple. It didn’t feel like a loving, married relationship to me.”

The two women bought a house together, later registering as domestic partners. They are each other’s first same-sex relationship.

“I was totally surprised when it happened,” Blow said. “This [partnership] is the last thing that I thought I would find myself in. What better thing than to fall in love with your best friend.”

Blow and Kennedy enjoy the thought of getting married this year, but said they are conscious of the opposition, and the legal challenges may be too much to allow for marriage this year.

Though worried about the statewide backlash, Blow and Kennedy tentatively set their wedding date for August 2013.

“We are married,” Kennedy said. “We do the same things as a married couple — we have roles. She rips up the trim when it needs to be ripped up and I do all the cooking. I walk the dogs. She works more than I do. I cook and I clean as she pays the bills. I wouldn’t say they’re male or female roles, but we have roles to run our home.”

Kennedy said the only difference between this marriage and her 18-year marriage with a man is that she and Blow get along better.

Currently the couple is trying to build their family. Kennedy and Blow said they are 98 percent complete with the process of becoming foster parents. The final paperwork has just been completed and is now pending on a supervisor’s approval, they said.

“We’re really excited to be able to bring children into our home,” Blow said.

Kennedy and Blow said the current plan is to foster a child. Depending on how the foster parenting goes, the couple may ultimately decide to adopt.

Though they are building a family together, Kennedy has a family of her own from her previous marriage. Kennedy said her daughter is a conservative Christian who doesn’t support her lifestyle with Blow, but accepts them both as individuals.

“She prays for us every day that we’ll be forgiven when we die,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy and Blow said their relationship with each other would not change with a legalized marriage. The only thing that would change is that society would see their marriage as legitimate.

“Even if you feel your relationship is wonderful, you’re still not married. You’re still not equal, you’re still not the same,” Kennedy said. "We want to be able to share the same societal acceptance.”

Western’s Queer Resource Center supports conversations on issues relating to sexual orientation. People of all ages are welcome to seek resources through the center which doesn’t support any specific political opinion, said Jordan Deal, coordinator for the QRC.

Deal said all students are welcome to ask questions and seek information or support from the QRC.

Opponents of the legislation have the ability to overturn it by introducing a referendum on the November ballot by collecting at least 120,557 signatures by June 6.

Ben Crowther is a part of Western’s gay community and can often be found in the Queer Resource Center.

Crowther said it’s likely the opposition will receive the number of signatures they need to put a referendum on the ballot during the 90-day process for same-sex marriage to become legal.

Crowther said a lot of people think that having the same legal rights as married couples is sufficient, but he and many others feel that terms like civil union or domestic partnership don’t have the same cultural meaning and force behind them that marriage does.

“It matters to me,” Crowther said. “I don’t want to have to explain to my nephew or my niece why their mom, my sister, can get married, but I get a domestic partnership.”

The only other United States states to recognize same-sex marriage are New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and it is also recognized in the District of Columbia.

“I don’t think of it as necessarily political,” Deal said. “It is encouraging for those people who have been in partnerships and who are going to be in partnerships to have their relationships recognized and to have safety for their children in the event of death or separation.”