King County Superior Court Opinion by Judge William L. Downing in Andersen v. King County Judge Downing's opinion in Andersen v. Sims hinged on the question of whether, as defendants and intervenors argued, restricting marriage to be between a man and a woman furthered the state's interest in encouraging procreation.

In rejecting that argument, Judge Downing cited laws recognizing the reality that a substantial amount of procreation occurs outside of the marital relationship, and noted that "[m]any families today are created through adoption, the foster parent system and assisted reproduction technologies.

The precise question is whether barring committed same-sex couples from the benefits of the civil marriage laws somehow serves the interest of encouraging procreation.

[ibid] Defendants and intervenors also contended that barring same-sex marriages advanced the state's interest in ensuring that children be raised in a healthy and nurturing environment.

[ibid] Judge Downing ruled that restricting the institution of marriage to opposite sex couples "is not rationally related to any legitimate or compelling state interest."

Justice Gerry L. Alexander issued a separate concurring opinion, emphasizing the possibility that the legislature or people could expand the definition of marriage in the state.

The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance hoped to use this to create a test case to have a court strike down the measure and highlight what they perceived as the weakness of the Andersen decision's logic.

[5] A bill to legalize same-sex marriage passed the legislature and was signed by Governor Christine Gregoire on February 13, 2012, but opponents gathered enough signatures to force a voter referendum on the legislation.