Happy early birthday me, or something. Gov. Gregoire has signed the gay marriage bill into law, and gay couples will be able to marry as of June 7. 

Congrats to couples planning to marry, and to the Evergreen State-- both for taking a lead here, and for doing this the right way, i.e., via legislative, as opposed to judicial, action. [intro]

Tomorrow, Washington's Senate is set to vote on legalizing gay marriage in the state, but it sounds like the vote will come late in the day, with the Seattle Times reporting that debate is slated to begin "in the late afternoon or early evening."

The Senate has the votes to pass the bill (the number required to pass have in fact endorsed it). The House supposedly does, too, and Gov. Gregoire backs it.

I've been hard on Gregoire over the years, but here I say "well done."  Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day ;) [intro]

I'm late in posting on this, but last week, former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman had an op-ed in the Union Leader advocating for Republicans in the Granite State to stick up for gay marriage. Excerpt:

Stripping away the right of adults in New Hampshire to marry the person they love is antithetical to freedom. If we really believe (and we should) that every citizen is endowed by their creator with the right to pursue happiness, shouldn’t this include the right to marriage? If we believe in limited government, how can we justify expanding the authority of the state to take away this most personal, fundamental right? Aren’t politicians already too involved in too much of our lives? Why would we want to expand government to such a personal space?

Allowing New Hampshire citizens to marry the person they love isn’t just consistent with maximizing freedom. It also promotes responsibility, commitment and stability; it promotes family values. Again, our history provides a good road map: One of our party’s finest hours was the passage of welfare reform because it strengthened families and promoted marriage. Why would we want to take away this right from anyone?

I was asked earlier today by an acquaintance why I care about efforts in New Hampshire to ban gay marriage, after elected officials-- not unaccountable judges issuing judicial fiats-- had said "OK" to it....