Where do the religious nuts find so much time?!? Don't they have jobs or are they employed as full-time bigots? What the hell?!

Home schooling doesn't require much time if you don't teach science.

So this is no longer a clash of cultures, it's a vendetta of bigotry. The religious right has spoken out about the term "gay marriage" for a long time. Okay, now that it is no longer referred to as anything but "domestic partnership", that should solve the problem, right? Wrong. Clearly these people are bigots. They can no longer hide behind their defense of the word "marriage". They clearly hate homosexuals, and will stop at nothing to keep us down.

Great post, Dom. I will contact my Issaquah House and Senate reps, though they are both Republicans.

But really- fucking hell- don't we control both chambers? Any Dem who votes against this bill needs to be told and KNOW that they will get an automatic primary challenge next time around.

Come out with your hands up!

cue the right-wing trolls .... in ...3, 2, 1....

Dom, can you post a list of the reps that need contacting and what districts they are in so we can get the word out to our famlies that may be in there districts?

Dominic, it would be super helpful if you would list the bill number here, so we can make sure our emails all track to the right cause. Thanks!

This sort of post serves the cause well. Keep this topic on the radar for at least another week, Dominic. The Slog has room amongst some of the less pressing issues, like, say... bacon?

I'm going to send personal emails to my Kitsap public servants. I'm straight as a ruler and happily married, but I see this as an issue of taxation without representation, not to mention separation of church and state (or lack thereof).

Queers pay the same taxes I do. I think they deserve the same rights and privileges as any other American on this topic. It's not my business who they fall in love with. Nor is it the government's.

Churches, on the other hand... They should shut the hell up and enjoy their tax-free status. I resent their intrusion into this topic, which is clearly one of legislation.

#4, it might be worth your time since Pflug crossed the aisle to vote for the DP expansion last time. I could easily see her waffling back to the other side now that she doesn't have to face voters for three years. Voters represented by the other pro-DP Republicans need to make sure they don't lose those important crossovers: Dale Brandland (42nd LD), Curtis King (14th LD), and Maureen Walsh (16th LD). Given that Walsh has signed on as a cosponsor for the actual marriage equality bill I doubt she's in danger of switching, but the others might.

The senators who truly need to be aggressively courted are the swing Democrats who chickened out on the last bill. Many of them aren't even electorally-endangered yet still opposed it. These are the Senate Democrats who voted against the last domestic partnership expansion:

1. Paull Shin (21st LD) - reliably liberal vote on everything but DPs in a safe district
2. Marilyn Rasmussen (2nd LD) - lost reelection
3. Jim Kastama (25th LD) - voted for the first DP bill but not the 2nd, might switch back now that he's been reelected
4. Brian Hatfield (19th LD) - conservative Democrat, but both House reps voted for the bill and are otherwise conservative Democrats
5. Tim Sheldon (35th LD) - lost cause
6. Jim Hargrove (24th LD) - lost cause

Rep. Mark Miloscia also voted against it despite being consistently reelected by huge margins in the 30th. He could easily absorb any electoral repercussions in voting for it, but he's more of a social-conservative populist and I suspect his votes against domestic partnerships are genuine rather than electorally-expedient.

@ 8) The senate-version of the bill is SB 5688. And I've updated the post with a link, too.

Things to do:

1. Change your FB status so your relatives see.
2. Directly email them and ask.
3. Phone them and ask.
4. Send nice postcard of Seattle and ask.

Repeat as needed.

Prop 8 and now this.
It is all crashing down.
I thought under Obama
things would be better.
But they are not.
They are not...

@13:

Don't despair; the dying beast always fights hardest after it's backed itself into a corner from which it can't escape.

Contacting your leaders about legislation is invaluable to them when faced with groups of religious fanatics. Do it for yourself and others today!

Obama has screwed the pooch so badly that after another year of his incompetence, it's going to be a miracle if a Democrat can get elected dog-catcher. Ridicule the "dying beast" all you want - it's not dead and you haven't seen the last of it.

Here is the list of Senators being targeted for calls by right-wing Faith and Freedom Network:

Dale Brandland, district 42 -- 360-786-7682
Curtis King, district 14 -- 360-786-7626
Cheryl Pfluge, district 5 -- 360-786-1999

Secondly, these Democrats will be up for election next year. Ones with an asterisk (*) by their names have one or more Republican seat mates.

Claudia Kaufman, district 47 -- 360-786-7692
Steve Hobbs, district 44 -- 360-786-7686
*Chris Marr, district 6 -- 360-7867610
Eric Oemig, district 45 -- 360-786-7672
Rodney Tom, district 48 -- 360-786-7694
*Derek Kilmer, district 26 -- 360-786-7650
*Tracey Eide, district 30 -- 360-786-7658

The following two senators are not up for reelection next year, but have Republican seat mates.

Jim Kastama, district 25 -- 360-786-7648
Mary Margaret Haugen, district 10 -- 360-786-7618

Please call these folks, whether you live in their district or not. I called all of them and only two asked if I was a constituent!

As you can see many of these folks are co-sponsors, so they should be called and thanked by us, regardless of whether they are "our" Senators or not.

Oh and one more reason to call. There are getting inundated by the right. Every single staffer I spoke with was just tickled pink to hear a friendly voice for a change.

And for those of you interested in seeing exactly what this domestic partnership bill cuts out to exist, check out the front page of fpiw.org

Get the facts,

You're a lying piece of shit. Not even the dishonest Family Policy Institute ad makes the claim that the proposed cuts are being CAUSED by the domestic partnership bill. A pretty stupid assertion seeing as how the cuts are to repair a $5 BILLION budget deficit and the FPIW's projected cost of domestic partnerships is $5 MILLION or 1% of that amount. Not to mention the assertion is bigoted, should we cease offering benefits to the spouses of Evangelicals to balance the budget? If not why not?

The biggest mistake the LGBT civil rights movement can make is assuming that the passage of the Domestic Partnership Bill of 2009 is a done deal. Regardless of whether or not the votes exist to pass the bill, the bill is an important vehicle to educate legislators about the lives of LGBT families and the breadth of support—gay and straight—for achieving full equality for Washington’s LGBT residents.

It is vital that persons outside Seattle in particular contact their legislators in support of the Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill of 2009. And it is equally important that everybody encourages their friends, family co-workers and neighbors to do the same. We must be constantly building our movement. And we must tell our stories. Everybody gay and straight has a story to tell! (see links below)

One of the reasons that I am confident that we can respond to the surge of activity from the radical right is that so many people have used the e-advocacy systems of Equal Rights Washington (ERW), FUSE, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the ACLU and other organizations. This is no secret, online petitions and action alerts passed from one friend to another allow us to build our lists so we can respond as needed. So despite the concerns raised in this post please do continue to spread action alerts that are sent to you by ERW and allied organizations. At the same time remember that it is important to call, visit and send hand written notes to your legislators from time to time and whenever things really heat up as they are doing now. We must build and deepen relationships with our elected leaders.

I hope Dom’s post will begin a vibrant conversation on the slog and elsewhere about the need for our community to increase our advocacy and better focus our efforts. c I know our opposition reads the SLOG as well as our friends. I will not here, therefore, telescope out the strategy and tactics we are undertaking to counter what is a very intense effort by the right to defeat the domestic partnership bill as well as stop the march toward marriage equality. Again, since this is no secret ERW does have state of the art technology that easily allows us to identify and call voters who support LGBT civil rights, so if you are interested in calling LGBT friendly voters in districts where the reactionary right is turning up the heat please either e-mail info@equalrightswashington.org or call ERW at 206-324-2570 and ask for Kate. This is a great way for folks in Seattle to help.

Below are also a few links you can use to contact your legislators if you have not already done so as well as info about Equality Day. PLEASE EDIT THE SUBJECT LINE & AT THE START OF YOUR E-MAIL TELL YOUR PERSONAL STORY.

If YOU CAN.NOT ATTEND EQUALITY DAY PLEASE USE THIS LINK

http://eqfed.org/campaign/virtual_eqday2…

IF YOU ARE ATTENDING EQUALITY DAY OR THINKING ABOUT IT PLEASE USE THIS LINK

http://eqfed.org/campaign/DP_2009

AND PLEASE REGISTER AND COME TO EQUALITY DAY. IF YOU THINK THINGS ARE NASTY NOW, JUST WAIT TILL THE MARRIAGE BILL STARTS MOVING. WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US.

http://equalrightswashington.org/events/…

Please visit the ERW website www.equalrightswashington.org regularly as we will be posting updates and of course those of you on our e-mail list, you can expect a few alerts over the next few days!

--
Joshua A. Friedes
Advocacy Director
Equal Rights Washington

W 206-324-2570

Bigot- One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

Hate- Intense animosity or dislike; hatred

Examples of hate speech: queer, fag, sodomite, fudgepacker ...

Liberal- Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox or authoritarian attitudes, views or dogmas; free from bigotry.

More examples of hate speech: Bible thumper, religious nuts, religious right, right wing trolls...

Hypocrisy- The practice of professing beliefs, feelings or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

It's just an observation but the comments posted seem to display evidence of bigotry, hatred and hypocrisy. To be a true liberal we must fight the temptation to fall into bigotry. We must learn to agree to disagree.

I do not hate people who have a sexual preference different than my own any more than I could hate someone who prefers a Ford over a Chevrolet. What two consenting adults do behind closed doors is none of my business and quite frankly I'd prefer not to know. I am an American and a resident of the great State of Washington and I care deeply about the future and well being of the residents of this State. In my research on this matter I can only conclude after considerable thought the "Gay lifestyle" does not provide evidence of a healthy, viable, alternative to heterosexual marriage. And therefore I can not support gay marriage as an institution. The purpose of civil government is to protect its citizens and fortunately for us as Americans we have a process that allows decisions like these to be decided by a vote of all the people. I don't hate you but I don't agree that gay marriage is good for the future well being of Washington's citizens.

Only morons say "sexual preference". That donates a choice. Who would honestly choose to be a gay man in a world that hates him?

"Agree to disagree" Steve-o? It's really easy to "agree to disagree" and do "research" on the "Gay Lifestyle" and make vague statements about what is a "healthy, viable alternative" when you have no experience, you risk nothing, and you have no chance of sitting at the back of the bus.

Don't try to sugarcoat your inequality speech and expect us to swallow it. If gays are denied rights, you lose nothing, you risk nothing, you gain nothing, while the LBGT community is relegated to second-class citizens with unfair taxation, questionable inheritance, lower recourse in life-and-death decisions of loved ones and a host of other painful inequities.

These are real lives Steve-o, and that's what folks like you never seem to get. We're all just extra in your little movie and you only notice the most glaring examples without looking at the average homosexual relationship, that much is plain to see. All of your speech indicates a complete ignorance of the actual situation and what's at stake for the rest of us.

But of course that doesn't matter to you. You still get a full voice in the game without risking anything personally, so why should you care about real people?

23) Homosexuality is no different than any other sinful act. It is passed on up to the fourth generation (that means it's in the genes). If you truly would rather not be homosexual ("in a world that hates you" --btw, we don't hate the person); just as an alcoholic can stop drinking or a drugger stop using or a liar stop lying, or, or, or, Jesus can (and more importantly, wants) to free you --let Him be your Champion! He truly is the 'love' every human being seeks.
"Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ..." Romans 8:35-39 In other words, He will always love you, no matter what you do, don't do, who you are, are not, etc; but you will never know His love (a love that is not from this world) unless you CHOOSE (free will) to receive Him into your heart.

Looks like it passed 30-18 in the Senate. Good work everyone. Joshua Friedes, don't let this happen again where we first hear of a problem in the Stranger.

Well dear, you just proved our point, in your own words acording to you and Romans 8:35-39 "Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ" OH YA UNLESS OF COURCE YOUR GAY! I must of missed that one in my Bible I will have to go back and reread it and find where it says that. I would like to ask, when did God die and leave you in charge of judging people? She Wolf