flnerd

This is an email I sent in response to an article that I'll find and post:

Dear, Senator Swecker,
I'm actually from NY State, I was reading an article about the gay rights bill and this is how you were quoted: "[w}e, the state, are telling people to accept, actually to embrace, something that goes against their religious views." Now I do ask you to correct me if I'm wrong, but ever since I've been studying the US government in school, and certainly I have been paying attention to what goes on since multiple graduations, we have a separation of Church and State in this country. So what it sounds like you're saying is that despite the fact that members of the lgbt are American Citizens, because they could possibly offend a Christian, they're not allowed basic rights. Is that what I'm understanding? Well, in following that logic, I'm sure glad that Jesus' message of love was clearly sorted out by our government and that Jesus died for only a select few - I bet He's proud.

Thank you for your time,
Elizabeth W Robinson


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This is actually a very positive article, but I still felt the need to email this guy:

Gay rights bill to become Washington law

05:16 PM PST on Friday, January 27, 2006

Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Lawmakers passed a gay civil rights measure on Friday, a major victory for gay rights activists who have watched the measure fail in the Legislature for nearly 30 years.

The bill passed the Senate on a 25-23 vote, with a lone Republican joining majority Democrats. The House quickly concurred, and Gov. Chris Gregoire said she planned to sign the bill into law Tuesday.

Cheers erupted from the Senate's balconies, which were packed with onlookers expecting the bill to clear its perennial roadblock.

Hundreds of people rallied on the Capitol steps in Olympia on Monday in support of a statewide gay civil-rights bill. It was part of daylong lobbying and prayers for House Bill 2661.

Rep. Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat who has sponsored the bill for 11 years, was given a standing ovation in the House after the measure gained final approval.

"I know for some, you're not happy," said Murray, one of four openly gay lawmakers in the Legislature. "For others, it's a historic day that quite honestly we wouldn't imagine could have happened even a few short years ago. It's a new dawn, it's a new day."

The measure adds "sexual orientation" to a state law that bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance, making Washington the 17th state passing such laws covering gays and lesbians, and the seventh to protect transgender people.

Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, was the sole Senate Republican to endorse the measure, a year after it lost by just one vote in the Senate. Two Senate Democrats voted against the measure. One Republican was not present.

"We don't choose who we love. The heart chooses who we will l! ove. And I don't believe that it is right for us to say ... that it's acceptable to discriminate against people because of that," Finkbeiner said in a floor speech.

Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, said the measure would "trample unrelentingly" on religious viewpoints that object to gays.

"We, the state, are telling people to accept, actually to embrace, something that goes against their religious views," he said.

The measure passed the House last week on a 60-37 vote, with six Republicans joining 54 Democrats in support.

Republicans amended the bill on the House floor to say that it would not modify or change state marriage laws.
House votes

REPUBLICANS VOTING YES: Shirley Hankins (Richland), Fred Jarrett (Mercer Island), Skip Priest (Fede! ral Way), Jan Shabro (Bonney Lake), Rodney Tom (Medina), Maur! een Wals h (College Place)
REPUBLICANS VOTING NO: John Ahern (Spokane), Gary Alexander (Olympia), Glenn Anderson (Fall City), Mike Armstrong (Wenatchee), Barbara Bailey (Oak Harbor), Jim Buck (Joyce), David Buri (Colfax), Tom Campbell (Roy), Bruce Chandler (Granger), Jim Clements (Selah), Cary Condotta (East Wenatchee), Don Cox (Colfax), Larry Crouse (Spokane Valley), Richard Curtis (LaCenter), Richard DeBolt (Centralia), Jim Dunn (Vancouver), Doug Ericksen (Bellingham), Larry Haler (Richland), Bill Hinkle (Cle Elum), Janea Holmquist (Moses Lake), Joel Kretz (Wauconda), Dan Kristiansen (Snohomish), Jim McCune (Graham), Joyce McDonald (Puyallup), Dan Newhouse (Sunnyside), Toby Nixon (Kirkland), Ed Orcutt (Carrolls), Kirk Pearson (Monroe), Dan Roach (Bonney Lake), Jay Rodne (Snoqualmie), Lynn Schindler (Spokane Valley), John Serben (Mead)), Mary Skinner (Yakima), Chris Strow (Clinton), Bob Sump (Republic), Gigi Talcott (Tacoma), Beverly Woods (Poulsbo).
! DEMOCRATS VOTING YES: Sherry Appleton (Poulsbo), Brian Blake (Aberdeen), Maralyn Chase (Shoreline), Frank Chopp (Seattle), Judy Clibborn (Mercer Island), Eileen Cody (Seattle), Steve Conway (Tacoma), Jeannie Darneille (Tacoma), Mary Lou Dickerson (Seattle), Hans Dunshee (Snohomish), Bill Eickmeyer (Belfair), Mark Ericks (Bothell), Dennis Flannigan (Tacoma), Bill Fromhold (Vancouver), Bill Grant (Walla Walla), Tami Green (Lakewood), Kathy Haigh (Shelton), Bob Hasegawa (Seattle), Zack Hudgins (Tukwila), Sam Hunt (Olympia), Ross Hunter (Medina), Ruth Kagi (Lake Forest Park), Phyllis Kenney (Seattle), Lynn Kessler (Hoquiam), Derek Kilmer (Gig Harbor), Steve Kirby (Tacoma), Patricia Lantz (Gig Harbor), Kelli Linville (Bellingham), John Lovick (Mill Creek), John McCoy (Tulalip), Joe McDermott (Seattle), Jim McIntire (Seattle), Mark Miloscia (Federal Way), Jim Moeller (Vancouver), Dawn Morrell (Puyallup), Jeff Morris (Anacortes), Ed Murray (Seattle), Al O'Brien (Mountlake ! Terrace), Timm Ormsby (Spokane), Eric Pettigrew (Seattle), Da! ve Quall (Mount Vernon), Mary Helen Roberts (Edmonds), Sharon Tomiko Santos (Seattle), Shay Schual-Berke (Normandy Park), Mike Sells (Everett), Geoff Simpson (Covington), Helen Sommers (Seattle), Larry Springer (Kirkland), Brian Sullivan (Mukilteo), Pat Sullivan (Covington), Dean Takko (Longview), Dave Upthegrove (Des Moines), Deb Wallace (Vancouver), Brendan Williams (Olympia), Alex Wood (Spokane).

The state Supreme Court heard arguments on a case challenging Washington's ban on gay marriage last year, and a ruling is expected in the coming weeks.

A Senate amendment this week added a caveat saying the state doesn't endorse "any specific belief, practice, behavior, or orientation."

"We have truly made history," Gregoire said in a news conference following the vote.

Gregoire told Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the news by cell phone, holding the phone away from her ear as she said they cheer! ed. Cantwell and Clinton were in Seattle for a fundraiser Friday.

The measure was first introduced in 1977, but it is most closely associated with the state's first openly gay lawmaker, Democrat Cal Anderson of Seattle, who sponsored it for eight years before he died of AIDS in 1995.

"I don't doubt that he's really smiling down on us right now," said his partner of 10 years, Eric Ishina of Seattle. "He gave a lot of us the enthusiasm and energy to keep fighting for this bill."

The fight for the bill in essence came to an end this month, when Finkbeiner announced he would switch his vote, and the momentum of support continued outside of Olympia.

Earlier this month, several companies, including Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Nike Inc. signed a letter urging passage of the measure, which would add "sexual orientation" to a state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gend! er, age, disability, religion, marital status and other facto! rs.

Microsoft's pitch for the bill comes a year after it was denounced for quietly dropping its support.

The bill has sparked significant debate across the state, and two public hearings drew dozens of people who opposed the measure on moral grounds.

"What you're going to have to have now is the promoting of homosexual sex as normal via the apparatus of government," said Dr. Joseph B. Fuiten of the Faith & Freedom Network.

Fuiten said his organization was preparing to file for a referendum on the bill, but added that he may wait on the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage.

Gregoire said she would fight any effort to undo the law.

"I will fight any initiative, any referendum that tries to take back the equality these folks and others around our great state have been given today," she said.

The law will take effect in June, 90 days after the end of session, unless a referendum challenge is filed, freezing it.

Celebrations were planned in nine cities Friday night, including Seattle, Bellingham, Spokane and Yakima.