Two Boys Murdered Because You Want to Get Married

By now it’s no surprise that the anti-gay extremists at Westboro Baptist Church picket funerals. But I can’t lie when I say that I amshocked, disgusted, and saddened by WBC’s plans to protest at the funeral of two Washington boys who were murdered by their father. Their reason? Gay marriage.

Come again?

 

Apparently Washington’s Wednesday vote to legalize gay marriage was enough to cause the boys’ father Josh Powell to murder his two sons Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, and then blow up all three of them up in a gasoline-fueled inferno last Sunday. After all, he was an anti-gay psychic, right?

Let’s just be clear in case there was any doubt: The Powell boys were not murdered as a demonstration of God’s disapproval of gay marriage in Washington State. Not at all. That doesn’t happen. That idea is dumb. It’s just really, really dumb, for real.

Joking aside and disregarding the complete stupidity that is the Westboro Baptist Church’s logic, the situation is tragic. The boys lived with their grandparents after their mother went missing in 2009. Their father was in the midst of seeking child custody. Records show Josh Powell sent goodbye emails minutes before a social worker dropped the boys off for the visit that ended their lives.

Margie Phelps, daughter of the founder of WBC and never one to be sensitive to… well, anything, tweeted that the protest will also be a demonstration for Governor Christine Gregoire who announced her support for marriage equality and is expected to sign the law next week.

“You see friends, our job is to show his nation its sins. #GettingYourAttention” Phelps tweeted this afternoon.

No, Margie. Your job is to stay the hell out of this funeral and let families grieve a tragic loss.
Good riddance. What do you think about this “demonstration?” Vent your outrage in the comments.

WA Gov. Chris Gregoire: I Will Introduce Bill To Make Gay Marriage Happen

"It is now time for our gay and lesbian citizens to be treated equally and that means marriage." - Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire. Story developing, update here in minutes.

UPDATE: The Seattle Times has more.

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday said she'll put forward legislation to legalize marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The proposal will be introduced during the legislative session that starts Monday. If it's approved, Washington would become the seventh state to legalize gay marriage. "It's time, it's the right thing to do, and I will introduce a bill to do it," Gregoire said in a statement. "Our gay and lesbian families face the same hurdles as heterosexual families -- making ends meet, choosing what school to send their kids to, finding someone to grow old with, standing in front of friends and family and making a lifetime commitment," Gregoire said. "For all couples, a state marriage license is very important. It gives them the right to enter into a marriage contract in which their legal interests, and those of their children if any, are protected by well-established civil law."

Washington state currently has an "everything but the name" domestic partners law that was upheld in the bitterly contested Referendum 71 battle.