Two Tri-City legislators focused on their daughters when deciding how to vote Wednesday on the same-sex marriage law.

Reps. Brad Klippert, R-Kennewick, and Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, agreed that one focus of a marriage is children.

But they couldn't agree on what the core of a family is: a man and a woman, two men, two women or something else.

"You wouldn't believe the horror in my daughter's eyes when I asked her, 'How would you like to have two of me?' " Klippert said during Wednesday's floor debate.

Quoting decisions from the Washington State Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, he said raising children is best accomplished by families with opposite-sex parents.

"(My daughter) needs the strength and discipline of a father, but she needs the love and nurturing of a mom," Klippert said.

Wearing a black and white button with drawings of a man and a woman and the word "Marriage," he voted against the bill.

Walsh voted for it.

Two years ago, Walsh learned that her daughter is a lesbian. But her daughter's sexual orientation did not change their relationship, she said. Now Walsh says she looks forward to throwing a wedding for her daughter someday.

She recounted the time her daughter defended a bullied kid in elementary school.

"My daughter stood up for that kid. Even though it wasn't the popular thing to do, she knew it was the right thing to do," Walsh said.

She said she is proud that her daughter spoke against the vocal majority to defend the rights of a minority.

"That's why we are here," she said.

Again Klippert disagreed. He said lawmakers are in Olympia to focus on the budget and economy. Current laws on marriage work, and they should not be altered, he said.

"Let's put this bill down. Let's show the entire population of the state that our economy and our budget is important to us. That's what we can do for our people right now," he said.

Instead, the House passed the bill 55-43.