All of the conservatives must have been teabagging protesting the government's tax increases so passionately (and creatively) yesterday, that they missed The House pass SB 5688, a bill expanding the rights of same-sex domestic partners. The bill provides domestic partners the basic benefits, rights, and financial security given to the State's married couples. It isn't a marriage certificate folks, but once Gov. Gregoire passes this into law, Washington could be well on its way to proceeding with a marriage bill next year.
more ›

Hey, Seattlest doesn't have any bestsellers, gay or straight, banned or otherwise, but "software glitch?" C'mon. Even if it wasn't a deliberate wardrobe malfunction, Amazon's response was just pitiful, akin to the woman in charge of snowplows leaving town during December's storm. Twitter's out there pushing conspiracy theories, and Amazon's all "Nevermind." You'd think the company that pioneered online book sales would do a better job of managing an online crisis. Jeff Bezos, where are you? more ›

Tonight, the Seattle Presbytery--the local legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)--will vote on whether or not to approve something called Amendment 08B. If the amendment is passed in a simple majority of the nation's presbyteries, it would mean that the policies forbidding gays and lesbians from becoming ordained as pastors would be what the Presbyterian Outlook calls "less specific." Basically the result would be that each presbytery would then get to choose whether or not to allow gay and lesbian ordination in their area, or could decide on a case-by-case basis, rather than having to follow national policy either way. Tonight's vote should provide some insight into which way the Seattle presbytery would swing if Amendment 08B does pass nationally. Here's the discussion paper local presbytery members will be looking at during the conversation preceding the vote tonight. [UPDATE: The amendment failed, with 91 members voting yes and 155 voting no of 248 qualified voters. Huh, not sure how to interpret that one. WTF, Seattle?] more ›