I stopped by The Paramount yesterday (on my way to Ballard to see Mount Eerie) to join in the party for the passing of “the gay civil rights bill” [Times]. The foyer was packed full of people, all hugging and grinning and patting each other on the back. Even the fact that everyone tempered their speech with a warning that there will be a fight to keep this law didn’t seem to dampen the spirits in the room.

I, of course, got all teary every time someone took me by the shoulders and yelled about how long we’ve been fighting for this. As a straight girl, I’ve never personally experienced this sort of discrimination, and I don’t claim to know how terrible it could be. But I have friends in the gay community, here and elsewhere, who have fought it for years. And it was their victory that I was celebrating.