Checking in from Seattle

We are having a great time in Seattle. It's such a beautiful and wonderfully tolerant city. The last few days have been kind of surreal for me. Last weekend I was in Boston for Boston Pride, and now I'm in Seattle. And on Saturday, we leave for Olympic National Park. A lot of traveling and a LOT of photos over a short period of time.

What really made my day was a call from Kent that I received while at the top of the Seattle Space Needle. It was so beautiful up their and the views are great (photos to follow later). But what really made it special was the announcement that the legislature in Massachusetts has voted not to allow an amendment to ban marriage for gay couples to proceed to the November ballot, where it would have been voted on by the voters.

By voting down this amendment, the legislators have recognized that you don't put civil liberties up to a popular vote.

BOSTON — Massachusetts lawmakers threw out a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday that would have let voters decide whether to ban gay marriage in the only state that allows it.

The vote — which came amid heavy pressure to kill the measure from Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders — was a devastating blow to efforts to reverse a historic 2003 court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

"Today's vote is not just a victory for marriage equality. It was a victory for equality itself," said Patrick, who had lobbied lawmakers up until the final hours to kill the measure.

As the tally was announced, the halls of the Statehouse erupted in applause.

The ban needed 50 votes in consecutive sessions of the 200-seat Legislature to secure a place on the 2008 statewide ballot. At the end of the last session in January it passed with 62 votes, but this time it garnered just 45. (source)

Rather scary if you think about it... the thing was only 5 votes short of passing! That is how fragile freedom and equality can be.