Gov. Chris Gregoire is urging the Washington Legislature to make the state the seventh in the US to authorize same-sex marriage.

The Democratic governor, in an emotional press conference at the Capitol, said she had struggled with the issue for years, primarily because her Catholic faith opposes gay marriage. She said public opinion, particularly among young people, has shifted toward favoring same-sex marriage.  She added: “I’ve been on my own journey. … It is the right thing to do and it is time.”

Churches would remain free to marry, or not marry, whomever they wish, but “It’s not OK for the state to discriminate.” She likened marriage equality to the civil rights movement.

She said she’s sending the Legislature her own gay-marriage bill, and said she believes lawmakers will muster enough votes to pass it in Olympia, rather than put it on the statewide ballot.

Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, one of the state’s gay legislators and chair of the budget committee, said he is “a few votes short in the Senate,” but believes they will materialize during the session. He was among a crowd of gay rights activists who stood with Gregoire.

Democrats have a 56-42 edge in the House, where it takes 50 votes to pass a bill, and a narrower 27-22 majority in the Senate. Advocates said they’re lining up some votes from “progressive Republicans” who previously supported an “everything but marriage” bill.