This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s print edition.

Opponents of same-sex marriage have rallied around a Richland florist who is being sued by the state attorney general’s office and the ACLU for refusing to provide flowers for a gay couple’s wedding. But the core issue isn’t same-sex marriage; it’s the consumer’s right not to face discrimination.

Florist Barronelle Stutzman says she is religiously opposed to same-sex marriage because of her Christian beliefs, and she has every right to hold that opinion. She just doesn’t have the right to impose it in the commercial marketplace.

State anti-discrimination and consumer protection law is clear: Merchants cannot refuse goods and service to someone because of race, creed, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, military status or disability.

Would Stutzman’s supporters defend her if she Read more »

Today was an important one for those who watch social trends. Rhode Island became the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage, and Maryland became the 18th state to abolish the death penalty. It was also the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to get rid of capital punishment.

Those trends are heading one way: toward marriage equality and no death penalty. According to the Associated Press:

Maryland State Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat and constitutional law professor who opposes the death penalty, said he believes pressure is building around the country to focus law enforcement resources on things that are proven to lower the homicide rate.

“The trend lines are clear,” Raskin said. “There’s nobody who’s adding the death penalty to their state laws. Everybody is taking it away.” Read more »

This editorial will appear in Monday’s print edition.

2012 was the year that Washington voters made history on the national stage.

This state became the first in the nation to allow same-sex marriages by virtue of voter approval, not through legislative or judicial action. And – for better or worse – voters made Washington one of two states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana (Colorado is the other).

The Nov. 6 approval of Referendum 74 was an important step forward for civil rights and has galvanized proponents of same-sex marriage in other states. Passage affirms that a majority of this state’s voters believe homosexuals should have the same right to marry the one they love as heterosexuals – with all the benefits and responsibilities that go along with that right, at least at the state level.
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For your Thanksgiving Day reading, Cokie and Steve Roberts write about the changing American family sitting down today for the feast. Does it look a little like yours?

THE NEW AMERICAN FAMILY

By Cokie Roberts and Steven V. Roberts

We all know the famous Norman Rockwell painting of a typical American family gathered around Grandma as she serves up a huge turkey. If Rockwell were painting today, his portrait of a Thanksgiving feast would have to include gay Uncle Kevin and perhaps a niece who’s brought her girlfriend home from college. (He might also sketch in the new Chinese daughter-in-law, but that’s another story.)

The American family is changing rapidly, and so are attitudes about same-sex marriage. In the last election, three states voted to approve the institution (Maryland, Maine and Washington), and one, Minnesota, rejected a move to ban it. The focus on Barack Obama’s re-election, and the attention paid to the critical Latino vote, obscured this historic milestone. Read more »

This editorial will appear in Monday’s print edition.

Much has been written about what Referendum 74 is about and what it might or might not do if voters approve it Nov. 6.

Why they should vote yes can be summed up in one word. Equality.

Earlier this year, the Legislature gave same-sex couples the right to marry. But opponents gathered enough signatures to put a referendum on the ballot that requires voters to either affirm of reject marriage equality.

It is our hope that voters will approve R-74, that they will recognize that this is a basic civil rights issue and that it is wrong to continue denying homosexuals the right to marry the one they love.
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This editorial will appear in Friday’s print edition.

Should supervisors in government agencies not so subtly suggest how workers should vote if they want to keep their jobs?

Should churches collect donations for a political cause that aligns with their beliefs and send them to the campaign?

The first scenario seems like a no-brainer. Of course bosses shouldn’t apply political pressure in the workplace – especially in government offices. In fact, the Hatch Act expressly prohibits certain government employees from partisan politicking at work.
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Ever since it became known that Chick-fil-A President and CEO Dan Cathy is a big donor to campaigns against same-sex marriage, his critics have pushed for a boycott of the chain. But even if you wanted to participate in either the boycott or the anti-boycott, you couldn’t do it in this neck of the woods. The closest location is in Boise, Idaho.

The chain is more a Southern thing, and I have to say I’m kind of addicted to their “classic” chicken sandwich. I’ve always dropped into one of its locations when I go back to Florida to visit friends. …

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This editorial will appear in Friday’s print edition.

It’s hard to look at President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday in support of same-sex marriage as anything more than anticlimactic symbolism, welcome that it is.

It’s not likely to be much of a political game-changer in the presidential election. Those strongly opposed to expansion of gay rights probably weren’t inclined to vote for Obama in November anyway after he overturned restrictions on gays in the military and announced that his administration would not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

Because of Obama’s longtime support for gay rights, supporters of same-sex marriage were probably already inclined to vote for him even though his public position on the issue was only “evolving.” His reluctance to come out in favor of same-sex marriage had widely been interpreted as being politically motivated: He hoped not to alienate the independent voters so crucial to his re-election. His announcement this week certainly was prompted by Vice President Joe Biden’s earlier comments of support for same-sex marriage.
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