Although the ballots are still being counted, last night news outlets called Washington State’s domestic partnership referendum in our favor! As of late Thursday, we were wining by 52 to 48 percent, a deficit the Seattle Times called “insurmountable” for the opponents of gay rights.

I’m not going to try to spin it: Our loss in Maine yesterday, where voters rejected a law that would have given same-sex couples the right to marry, was deeply disappointing and discouraging. All of us here at the LGBT Project started yesterday hopeful and were further encouraged by reports that turnout was well above what was expected. But as the early returns showing No on 1 with a slight lead turned into a 30,000 vote lead for the Yes side, I had to concede that we’d lost (though I did keep hitting refresh on the Bangor Daily News results page until the wee hours of morning).

Now I’m here, dejected, eating consolation donuts provided to us by our friends in the Reproductive Freedom Project and wondering when and where we will finally get that first victory for marriage at the ballot box. But part of me can’t help but be excited about the many victories we had yesterday, in races big and small, that prove we’re making progress toward LGBT equality.

This chapter is a basic introduction to a group of different kinds of policies which are all loosely referred to as "domestic partnership." The next chapter goes over some of the things you should consider in deciding which type of policy to propose.

Check out our FAQ about California domestic partnerships. Visit the state of California's domestic partner registry online and read the provisions governing domestic partnerships in the California Family Code.