Saturday, January 28, 2006

Equal Rights in Washington, Finally After the drama and gnashing of teeth last year, Washington's gay rights bill seemed to fly through the Legislature this time.  Yesterday, the bill passed the State Senate for the first time in thirty years on a 25-23 vote, with exactly one Republican supporting it.  Governor Gregoire is expected to sign it on Tuesday.  The bill adds "sexual orientation" to state law banning discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital status and other factors. The back-and-forth maneuvering by Microsoft was absent this time:  they signed a letter encouraging the Legislature to pass the bill, along with corporate giants Boeing, H-P, and Nike.  So now the only drama remaining is watching the response by the gay-hating loonies and Republican windbags. The loonie brigade, led by one Rev. Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond.  He has threatened a massive boycott of Microsoft, and is apparently instructing people to buy Microsoft stock and then dump it all on May 1st (in honor of the people's revolution?)  To my untrained ear, that sounds like stock manipulation.  But let's check in with an expert. "The chances of him being successful with that are slim to none, and slim just left town," said Hans Olsen, chief investment officer at Bingham Legg Advisers. Hmm.  Okay, then.  Windbag. Meanwhile, Republicans are in competition to see who can say the stupidest thing about this bill.  A few selections: "I believe this bill places us on a slippery slope toward the legalization of gay marriage in our state. ... The governor and others are trying hard to separate this issue - gay rights from gay marriage. The two are linked." - Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester.  Ah, yes.  Once you let those gays think they're equal members of society, they go ahead and start acting like it.  Note:  Swecker's also the guy who said that this bill would "trample unrelentingly" on the rights of religious people who don't accept gays.  In other words, it would discriminate against people who want to discriminate. "I think it's very important that we don't go down the road of protecting people because of how they choose to act." Sen. Joseph Zarelli, R-Ridgefield. The topper comes from Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, who mournfully said, "This is a very sad day for the state of Washington," once it became clear there were enough votes to pass the bill.  Come on, people, we're talking about letting people keep their job and their apartments, not giving them the keys to your gun cabinet and kiddie porn collection.  One touching note from Olympia:  Eric Ishina, the partner of civil rights bill torchbearer Cal Anderson, was on hand for the bill's passage in the Senate yesterday.   The much-beloved Anderson sponsored the bill for eight years before his death from AIDS in 1995.  Ishina said yesterday, "I don't doubt that he's really smiling down on us right now."   8:22:51 AM     Speak up!  []