Same-Sex Couples Get UW Housing Access

Beginning next month, same-sex couples who register as domestic partners can apply for subsidized married and family housing at the University of Washington.

The UW Board of Regents voted unanimously and with little comment Friday to allow gay and lesbian couples to live in married student housing.

“We had really made clear our intentions early on,” regent Cindy Zehnder said.

The move comes after the board in May extended undergraduate health insurance to same-sex partners. Five couples have signed up for that benefit so far.

Both moves have been opposed by some state lawmakers.

“They shouldn’t be setting policy in the face of the values of the people of the state of Washington,” said Rep. Mike Sherstad, R-Bothell. “The people of the state of Washington don’t accept homosexual marriage, either legally or morally.”

Sherstad said he planned to ask the Legislature’s Joint Administrative Rules Committee to review whether the regents exceeded their authority.

UW officials have said the state attorney general’s office has determined the regents can decide eligibility for campus housing.

The university will start taking housing applications from same-sex partners Dec. 27.

To qualify, the couples will have to register as domestic partners with the city of Seattle or another jurisdiction with similar registration procedures. All couples and families must demonstrate financial need to be eligible for the subsidized housing.