archy

About damn time
There's good news from my corner of the country.

The Senate today voted 25-23 to approve a gay rights bill and ended the debate over legislation that emerged in Washington the same year singer Anita Bryant began her "Save Our Children" crusade against such protections.

The House quickly concurred by a 61-37 vote, and Gov. Chris Gregoire said she planned to sign the bill into law Tuesday.

The bill would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, lending and employment.

Twenty four of 26 Senate Democrats were joined by one Republican and approved the bill with a one-vote majority.

Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, has championed the legislation for a decade. The openly gay legislator, who waited in the wings for the vote, embraced his partner as the clerk read the vote count.

For most of the years I've lived in Washington, Murray has been my representative (though I live one district over right now). He's a real decent guy. He's worked his entire political career to get this passed, introducing it every year and watching it go down--until now. This must be a hell of a day for him.