Gay Civil Rights Bill: Passing on Friday?
A note from Ed Murray:
Dear Friends: As of right now, we expect the Senate to vote on HB 2661 this Friday morning between 10:00 AM and noon. Should the Senate approve the bill, the House will need to vote once more to concur with the Senate’s version the bill; the House is prepared to do so immediately following Senate action.The galleries of the Senate and House are open to the public and I would like to invite you to come down for what I hope will be a historic day. If you cannot join us in Olympia, you can watch the proceedings on TVW (either on cable TV or at www.tvw.org).
Following the House’s vote, we will be holding a legislative press conference with community leaders present. You are also invited to attend this event, as there will be room for the public to attend. The location will be finalized by Friday.
Also, a number of community groups are planning celebratory events all around the state for Friday evening. Stay tuned.
Celebrations planned tomorrow:
Tomorrow night we hope to be celebrating the passage of HB 2661 statewide. If the bill passes, here are details on some of the planned celebrations:
Bellingham: 5 PM at Taco Lobo, 117 W Magnolia Street
Kitsap County: 6:30 PM at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Bremerton
Olympia: 5 PM at Plenty's Restaurant, Downtown Olympia
Seattle: 6 PM at Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine Street
Spokane: 6 PM at Rainbow Regional Community Center, 508 West 2nd Avenue
Tacoma: 5:30 PM at Tempest, 913 MLK
Tri-Cities: 6 PM at Center for Positive Living, 210 East 3rd Avenue, Kennewick
Wenatchee: 7:30 PM Saturday at Cellar Cafe (SHINE Event), 246 N Mission Street
Yakima: 6 PM at Rainbow Cathedral MCC, 225 North 2nd; 7 PM at First Street Conference Center, 223 North 1st Street
The celebration in Seattle is being sponsored by Equal Rights Washington, The Pride Foundation, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Greater Seattle Business Association, The Task Force, The Human Rights Campaign, Rep. Ed Murray, Rep. Joe McDermott, and others. If you are interested in sponsorship, please let us know by replying to this message or calling 206-324-2570. Special thanks to the Pride Foundation, www.pridefoundation.org, for all of their help coordinating these events.
We expect that a few more cities will have these celebrations; we will send you information as soon as we have it. See you in the Senate tomorrow at 10 AM for the vote! Then, we hope, see you tomorrow night for the celebration!
Please note: Rep. Ed Murray, sponsor of HB 2661, will be on KCTS Connects with radical right-wing Reverend Ken Hutcherson tonight from 8 to 9 PM. Fair-minded Washingtonians should be watching and calling in. Our opponents will be.