We fight, we wait, we fight some more (updated)

At long last. Somewhere, Cal Anderson is smiling. Kind of.

Update: The Washington State Governor has signed into law legislation that inserts the words "sexual orientation" into anti-discrimination statutes. Of course, the reigning state homophobe immediately launched an effort to repeal it, but there you go.

It's only a partial, if hard-won, victory. The words "gender identity" are not included, which means that this only applies to gays and lesbians, not to trans folks who may be discriminated against based on that. Several years ago, while speaking on behalf of an initiative to include both sexual orientation and gender identity into that part of the law that covers employment discrimination, I found that most folks outside (and many inside) the lgbt community didn't understand trans concerns, to say the least. It seems the more progress we make, the more we realize needs to still be made.

And this on the day that Coretta Scott King dies--a woman and activist who thought long and hard about whether gay rights should be considered civil rights, and ended up supporting glb issues. (Not sure about the "t"--like I said, it's a tough one even for folks you'd think would be on board.)

Also, the new law specifically states that it does not apply to marriage concerns. And I have mixed feelings about gay marriage initiatives, anyway. I'm more concerned about the exclusion of the trans community. Remember, you don't have to like or even understand someone to respect their civil rights.