Danny Westneat | Right here, right now, history is incubating | Seattle Times Newspaper:
"Gays can't win at the ballot box.
That has always been the harsh reality. Put the subject of equality for gays and lesbians to a vote of the people — practically any people, in states from deep red to dark blue — and the people have always said: 'No. Not here. Not yet.'
Until — it appears — now. Right here.
There's a week's worth of ballot-counting remaining in an election everyone is saying is too-close-to-call. But it appears Washington state will be the first in America to approve a gay-equality measure not by court fiat or legislative action, but by the direct will of the people.
It's never happened before. If the slim lead holds for the gay-partnership law Referendum 71, it would be a landmark. Huge.
Not because the law that was on the ballot Tuesday is the last word in this debate.
But because the vote signals, finally, a tipping point of sorts — a bellwether of public acceptance — that has eluded gays and lesbians forever."
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