People who were here in Olympia, Washington in the early days of LGBTQ activism might recall the Smithfield Cafe and Hands Off Washington and Pride parades when they were tiny and it took guts to march or even stand on the curb and cheer as the courageous ones passed by. And a bit later the big parties to watch Ellen come out on her show and the campaign for equal marriage rights and celebrations when the bill passed and Gov. Gregoire signed it into law.<\/p>\n
I was here and in the midst of a lot of that, and I have friends here who were active even earlier, who remember things about the movement I can’t even imagine.<\/p>\n