Just because the closure of the viaduct is in effect doesn't mean one should avoid going to the West Seattle neighborhood. Jenise Silva compiles five of the best reasons to head out to our city's neighbor to the West. more ›

We said it before and we'll say it again: the teenager has come into it's own. This year's 16th annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival has had some of the strongest programs we can remember, and is truly establishing itself as a can't-miss event. The week has included plenty of entertaining flicks, along with several poignant documentaries chronicling the AIDS epidemic including The Grove and We're Still Here. more ›

Yesterday, one of the largest mainline Protestant Christian denominations--the Presbyterian Church (USA)--voted at their General Assembly to end the ban on ordination of gays and lesbians. The vote was 54% to 46%, an impressive margin for a denomination that has been roiled by bitter conflict over this issue for a solid thirty years. Technically worded, the vote dropped the rule that "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" was an absolute requirement for ordination. It will take another year for the nation's 173 presbyteries, or geographically grouped churches who have a shared governing body, to vote individually to approve a change to the PC(USA)'s constitution. But as of right now, a church--yes, even a church in the moderately conservative Presbytery of Seattle--may on a case by case basis overrule the ban and ordain gays and lesbians. This is huge news! more ›