The US state of Washington became the seventh in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage when Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law a bill approved last week by lawmakers.
"I'm proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal," Gregoire said, as gay marriage supporters who gathered for the signing ceremony in the state capital Olympia applauded.
Six US states -- Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont -- plus the District of Columbia already allow same-sex marriage.
The law will go into effect on June 7 in the northwestern US state unless opponents manage to gather enough signatures to hold a referendum on overturning the measure.
If opponents are successful, the law would be held in limbo until the results of the referendum, to be held on November 6 along with the presidential and congressional elections, are tabulated.
Same-sex marriage remains a highly controversial issue in the United States.
Lawmakers in the state of New Jersey, many of them Democrats, on Monday approved legislation legalizing same-sex marriage -- but Republican Governor Chris Christie has said he will veto the measure.
A group of 80 US mayors -- including New York's Michael Bloomberg, Chicago's Rahm Emanuel, Antonio Villaraigosa from Los Angeles and Annise Parker from Houston -- last month unveiled a campaign to win support for same sex marriage.
Gay marriage was briefly authorized in California in 2008, but later banned by a referendum re-writing the state's constitution to restrict marriage to unions between a man and a woman.
A US federal appeals court last week then declared the California ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
Opponents are expected to appeal, and the legality of same-sex marriage will likely be decided by the US Supreme Court.
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