Today in Olympia, senators have been debating the “gay civil rights bill”, which looks like it will pass thanks to Finkbeiner’s decision to break ranks with his party to support the bill. So the drama over the bill was just in the vote counting (25-23 in favor) and speechmaking. But the exciting news came just as the body was being “put at ease”: the president of the Washington state senate suspended the usual rules of decorum to allow senators to wear blue and grey, particularly in the style of the Seattle Seahawks and in the spirit of the Twelfth Man. This order will be in effect throughout the next week and will extend until the Monday following the Super Bowl.

He also noted that donning yellow, white, and black may cause the wearer to be rendered invisible to the chair. As the session closed, the Republicans scurried off to caucus and Olympia clothiers jolted into action to outfit legislators in the most garish Seahawks apparel possible.

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Over at the Stranger, Eli Sanders has been live-blogging the debate [slog], or you can watch for yourselves at tvw.org as it moves back to the House for final legislative approval.

update: both houses passed the bill, now it goes to Gregoire for a signature. [times]