Washington State Domestic Partner Law Takes Effect

News outlets are reporting that "dozens" of couples are lining up at government offices around Washington state today to register as domestic partners under a law that took effect over the weekend.
According to The Olympian, "Couples registered as domestic partners will get enhanced rights, including hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations and inheritance rights when there is no will. But domestic partners aren't getting all the rights that traditionally married couples have, and the registry is not the same as civil unions offered to gay couples in other states. To be registered, couples must share a home, not be married or in a domestic relationship with someone else, and be at least 18."