Washington Governor to Sign Marriage Equality into Law Today as Dan Savage Plans Mass Seattle Wedding Event

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire plans to sign marriage equality into law there today with gay couples who plan to marry at her side, the AP reports:

Gregoire and Secretary of State Sam Reed will certify the election on Wednesday afternoon in Olympia. The law doesn't actually take effect until Thursday, when gay and lesbian couples can start picking up their wedding certificates and licenses at county auditors' offices. King and Thurston Counties will open the earliest of any of the counties, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that marriage certificates can be signed at a wedding or ceremony, making the marriage valid, is Sunday.

And on Sunday, a major event is going down at City Hall in Seattle, where more than 140 couples will marry in a wedding chapel setting conceived by Dan Savage and executed by set designer Jen Zeyl.

Writes Dan on Slog:

Jen and her team are busily preparing to move in and quickly transform City Hall on Saturday night so that everyone is ready by 10 AM Sunday morning. There are other wedding events in Seattle on December 9, but most seem to be charging the couples who want to marry. This event—thanks to the mayor, his team, the judges, Jen Zeyl and her crew, folks at the Stranger (Carey, Tone, Renee, Tim, Laurie, et al), and everyone who has donated—is the only one I know about that is completely free for the couples getting married. We've almost reached our fundraising goal to help cover expenses. Please consider kicking in a few bucks to help make City Hall—and the day—beautiful for all the lucky couples planning to marry.

Should be quite a celebration.

Watch Dan discuss the plans, AFTER THE JUMP...

Closeted Power-Bottoms for Romney

Eli Sanders at Slog spied this poster on Seattle's Capitol Hill.

Dozens of Corporations Sign on to Full Page ad in 'Seattle Times' Declaring Support for Marriage Equality

Costco, Nordstrom, Microsoft, REI, Amazon.com and many others have signed on to a new full-page ad from Washington United for Marriage in support of Referendum 74 which appeared in this Sunday's Seattle Times, The Olympian reports:

The newspaper ad comes three days after opponents of R-74 released their first television ad, which uses the theme that R-74 is redefining marriage, adds no new rights for gays and could leave businesses subject to lawsuits.

Ballots go into the mail as soon as Wednesday and should start landing in mailboxes as soon as Thursday for the Nov. 6 election. Washington runs one of the nation’s two all-mail elections systems.

The Evergreen State is one of four where gay-marriage questions are on the ballot this fall and it was the first state in 2009 to affirm same-sex relationships by a popular vote when Referendum 71's domestic partnership law (also known as the "everything but marriage" law) was upheld.

I've posted the ad below:

Seattle Archbishop Says 'Society Would Be Harmed Beyond Repair' if Gay People Can Marry: VIDEO

Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain released a 4-minute video on the church's website warning voters that if Referendum 74 is approved and gays are allowed to marry, that "society would be harmed beyond repair."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Says Sartain, in solidarity with all the Catholics bishops in Washington:

"We urge our Catholic people to uphold our consistent Catholic teaching on marriage for the good of the Church, society, husbands and wives and their children. Therefore, we bishops reject the redefinition of marriage as a 'civil contract between two persons.' ... Redefining marriage as a means of dealing with important issues of equality and respect for all persons will not achieve the goal of defending the rights of all and would overturn centuries of common law. To suddenly change the God-given and time honored understanding of marriage would be a very harmful thing for our state and for the world. … Should marriage be redefined in our state the very foundational nature of marriage for the good and strength of human society would be harmed beyond repair."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via on top)

Dying of Cancer, Former Seattle City Councilwoman Comes Out as Lesbian: VIDEO

Cheryl Chow, a former Seattle City Councilwoman who KING5 calls "one of the most respected Asian-American leaders in Western Washington," has come out of the closet in a gesture she knows will be one of her last, but that she hopes will save lives:

“Parents and kids, don't be afraid of saying that you're gay. I was afraid for over 60 years and those 60 years were wasted,” she said.

Chow, 66, says she feared the reaction of the Chinese community and her mother, restaurateur and King County Councilmember, Ruby Chow, whom she wanted to please. She said her mother, in fact, was one of the first owners in town to welcome gay organizations to her restaurant.

“However, that didn't mean that she wanted me to be gay,” said Chow...

"...If I can save one child from feeling bad or even committing suicide because they felt terrible because they were gay, then I would have succeeded in my last crusade."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Seattle's 'Great Wheel' Challenges Claim Gay Man Was Kicked Off Ride for Holding Hands and Kissing

Seattle resident Jason Jacobs says he and his boyfriend were kicked off Seattle's new tourist attraction, the Great Wheel, for holding hands and kissing on the ride:

To my friends in Seattle and elsewhere, You should know if you are gay you run the risk of being bullied, harassed, and denied to ride The Seattle Great Wheel. Last night after paying $50 per person to ride on the VIP car, and waiting for over an hour, my date and i were asked, more like escorted, off the ride. They demanded the tshirts you get when paying to ride in the VIP car, refunded the tickets, then walked us off the property. This this happened only after my date and i held hands getting on the ride, sat down in the car and shared a little kiss. This isn't how Seattle normally treats people. We don't want this attraction and the Managment to give Seattle a bad reputation. Boycott The Seattle Great Wheel & make a call to action and help get some media attention to address this act of discrimination in our community.

The Seattle Great Wheel fired back on its Facebook page, claiming Jacobs and his companion were being unruly:

The Seattle Great Wheel welcomes people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles. We have never and will never discriminate against someone based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. We do, however, reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who fails to cooperate with our safety guidelines and rules. We love and look forward to serving everyone who wants to enjoy the Seattle Great Wheel.

The allegations against the Seattle Great Wheel are totally false. Our company has a long history of serving and employing members of the GBLT community and we are deeply saddened that we are being labeled as homophobic. The two individuals were asked to leave because of their behavior, which included putting their shoes on the leather seats and acting disrespectfully and unruly to our staff. Their behavior delayed the operation of the wheel for several minutes, disrupting the ride for our other passengers. We politely asked them to leave after they refused to cooperate, and they were given a full refund. Our staff was unaware of their sexual orientation and that played no role in their being asked to leave. We look forward to having everyone ride the wheel, including our friends in Seattle's GBLT community.

According to KIRO, Jacobs was refunded his money for the ride, but wants "an apology and more sensitivity training for the staff."