The first response I got to last week's column was a phone call from a close friend to gubernatorial candidate Phil Talmadge. Next: an e-mail from a consultant to gubernatorial candidate Christine Gregoire. They loved it. The column had called bullshit on King County Executive Ron Sims for boasting about opening the door for six gay couples who showed up at the King County Administration Building last week. I had written that while Sims symbolically opened the door to differentiate himself from historic opponents of civil rights who had blocked school doorways, he ended up linking himself to those infamous obstructionists by ultimately denying the couples what they came for--marriage licenses.

While I'd like to believe these big-shot politicos think I'm an astute and brilliant columnist, I'm pretty sure my two fans from the Talmadge and Gregoire camps had their own interests at heart. Sims, you see, like Talmadge and like Gregoire, is running for governor.

I certainly stand by last week's column. After all, the licensing office isn't locked to gays. My colleague Amy Jenniges and her girlfriend, for example, walked right into the office two days before Sims heroically opened the door for those six couples, and just like those six couples, Amy left without the marriage license she sought. (She was, however, able to get one with a man, our gay editor Dan Savage, who had accompanied her there.)

But Sims isn't the only one who deserves scrutiny. What of Talmadge and Gregoire? Well, Talmadge isn't expected to win, so his position on gay marriage (he supports it) is moot. That brings us to front-running Democrat Gregoire, who not only stands a good chance of becoming Washington's next governor, but could, as current state attorney general, impact the legality of gay marriage. Like Sims' stance, Gregoire's position actually matters. (Like AGs in other states--New York and Oregon--Gregoire could undermine the law by indicating that her office doesn't respect it, encouraging lawsuits. She could also intervene in the current suit and speed the law's demise.) Don't count on Gregoire to do the right thing, though.

Gregoire's position makes Sims, who says that as governor he would sign legislation ensuring same-sex marriage, look like civil-rights hero Rosa Parks. Gregoire opposes gay marriage ("I do not believe that Washington State is ready to support gay marriage"), and she won't say what she'd do as governor. Her campaign consultant muttered something about Attorney General Gregoire's inability to comment because of the pending gay marriage lawsuit.

Gregoire might not think Washington is ready for gay marriage, but I've got news for her. Little Rock wasn't "ready" to integrate its schools, Montgomery wasn't "ready" to integrate its buses, and Mississippi wasn't "ready" for voting rights.

Thousands of gays, like my workmate Amy, are ready to get married. And until Gregoire is ready to stand up for the rights of all Washington's citizens, she's not ready to be governor.

josh@thestranger.com