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  Washington governor Chris Gregoire, left, and congressman Jamie Pedersen celebrate the bill's passing last week. Elaine Thompson / AP Today our neighbors to the north made gay marriage officially legal when Governor Christine Gregoire signed the landmark legislation into law amidst the cheers of gay couples and supporters making it the seventh state (as well as the District of Columbia) to allow same-sex marriage.
“My friends, welcome to the other side of the rainbow,” said state Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, before Gregoire signed the bill.
“This is a very proud moment,” Gregoire said, “I’m proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal.”
However, changes won’t go into effect for 90 days meaning that opponents have until June 6th to gather enough signatures, 120,577, to put it on November’s ballot. If they do not marriages can begin June 7, but if they do they will be put off until the election.
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  After Washington state passed a bill through the Senate last week we knew that the road to gay marriage in our neighbor to the north was only a matter of time. Today we are one step closer, that is, pretty much there, with the House passing the HB 2516 by 55-43. All that’s left now is for Gov. Gregoire to sign, seal and deliver it, which she is expected to do.
However, because there is no emergency clause on the bill, the law wouldn’t take effect for 90 days giving opponents time to get a referendum on the ballot. This would effectively stall gay marriages until after the November election meaning none of those troublesome “grandfathered” unions like the couples who married in California before Pop 8 was passed.
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  Yesterday’s vote in the Washington state Senate was the first big push to get the same-sex marriage ball rolling in the state. Now the Washington state House has to pass the bill, and the governor has to sign it. The bill is expected to pass as early as next week, according to the Seattle Times.
The state Senate was seen as the biggest hurdle the bill’s passage. The House apparently has more than enough votes in its favor, according to the bill’s supporters, and Gov. Chris Gregoire strongly supports it.
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 Van, WA's Saturday in the Park. Photo by Kathy Belge.
The 2012 Saturday In The Park Planning committee invites you to submit your logo ideas to be used in conjunction with our advertising and our event on July 14, 2012. This is a great chance to have your talent and artwork viewed by a wide range of individuals, businesses and community sponsors. It is also a way […]
 This week 2 Girls, 1 Podcast records from the bar which makes us even more ridiculous in our commentary, like bringing up the lack of Grindr for women (“um, lesbians invented grinding”) and the already escalating gay gang war. […]
 This week Lyska and Alley invite a guest to the studio, Shannon Wiberg, aka DJ Action Slacks. We laugh a lot. […]
  Update: The CC Chamber of Commerce has officially stated that this was spam email. There have been discussions about this statement (make of that what you will) and you can read the entire announcement at the bottom of this post.
For all the ups and downs of my hometown Vancouver, Washington and its Clark County, from being named one of the most gayest cities to being made fun of in a Portlandia spoof called Vancouvria, I never would have expected emails as homophobic as these that circulated last night at the Clark County Chamber of Commerce. (Guess they won’t be promoting our Holiday Gift Guide, local as it may be).
Apparently, they were not meant for the general public, but that doesn’t negate their inherent discrimination. Change.org has additional information and a petition you can sign demanding an apology.
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 A Red Dress Party of the past
In Vancouver WA (Alley Hector’s hometown!) the YWCA has received a generous donation of $15,000 from this years Red Dress party, (a yearly event in Portland and across the U.S that attracts thousands of attendees, mostly gay men and some women, all wearing red dresses). The YWCA will use the funds to go towards programs that support LGBTQ youth who […]
  Our little neighbor to the north really isn’t so little anymore, and it’s a pretty decent place to be a gay person, even if they did recently lose their only gay bar (hey, we lost our only lesbian bar). This weekend Vancouver, Washington celebrates their Gay Pride with Saturday in the Park.
A decidedly different approach than the debaucherous Prides of most cities, VanWa’s celebration begins with “Lyle’s Miles” 5k run and bills itself as the only family friendly Gay Pride celebration in existence. The annual charity walk/run goes through downtown Vancouver to raise money for Cascade AIDS Project, Martha’s Pantry and Global Partners for Development. The non-competitive walk/run event starts at 8:30am and is open to all.
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  Northbank gay bar in Vancouver Despite Vancouver, Washington‘s many recent triumphs as a gay and lesbian friendly city, their one gay bar, The NorthBank, will be closed as of this Sunday. Owners Brent and Darrell have sent this letter to the community:
To All of our Friends, Staff, and Community:
It brings us (Brent & Darrell) great sadness to have to inform the community of the likely closure of The Northbank. As many of you know the country is currently in an economic struggle and we have felt this at the bar. With the cost of inventory and overhead rising and low sales we have spent a lot of time reflecting and coming to this decision.
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