National Organization for Marriage is going to have their hands full trying to control all the back-biting factions within Washington’s anti-gay industry. Did they know what they were in for when they decided to spend upwards of $6 million to interfere in the affairs of a state 2,500 miles distant from their offices in Washington, D.C.?

Homophobia and racism are not the same thing, but they share a common root in prejudice and are sometimes expressed in similar ways: social ostracization, beatings, killings, barriers to work, education, housing and public places.

The intensity of discrimination endured by the various categories of people facing prejudice may not always be the same, but to the individual on the receiving end of the discrimination, it hardly matters whether others have received the same amperage of misery.

If NOM is winning the war to keep marriage a special right for heterosexuals, then they must have created a new math. There were zero marriage equality states before 2004, now there are six, plus the District of Columbia. On top of that there are numerous states that are ramping up to marriage equality by offering civil unions and domestic partnerships. Keep up the good work, NOM!

Fifteen years ago the Washington state Legislature overrode Gov. Gary Locke’s veto and passed the discriminatory “defense of marriage act” (DOMA) to prevent gay and lesbian couples from obtaining civil marriage licenses. Today the Washington state Legislature became the first in the nation to correct its DOMA mistake and pass a marriage equality bill.

The long-awaited Appeals Court ruling on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 will be announced tomorrow.

Karen Handel, the Sarah Palin acolyte who appears bent on bringing-to-Gilead the Komen Foundation if she doesn’t ruin its reputation first, is not simply opposed to Planned Parenthood and its “babykilling” practices. She’s the whole Palin package: she opposes marriage equality, and she opposes adoption by same-sex couples, too. All dressed up in a campaign for ethical reform of government by the ‘good ole boys.’

The House is expected to pass the bill as early at this Friday, and Gov. Gregoire is eager to sign it. These are momentous, historic actions, but they are not the end of the story. Anti-equality activists have promised to put a referendum on the November, 2012 ballot, asking voters to approve or reject the new law.

Last week, Starbucks joined the long list of Washington employers endorsing Washington’s marriage equality bill. The Starbucks statement reflects their years-long commitment to equality. I sent them a “thank you” note, and they replied.

An astonishing 71.3% of college freshmen support marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples, according to UCLA’s Freshman Survey, an annual national survey of first-year students entering four-year colleges and universities. There were large increases in support across the board.

Despite timely, cogent research showing gay couples form loving and committed partnerships when allowed to do so, anti-gay Pastor Joe Fuiten has written an article called “Turning Marriage into a Farce” contending that “[g]ay marriage is not a step of human progress but a regression to marriage as a joke.” Here we take down the Pastor’s sources, data and logic.