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It's more than politics -- it's personal
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Candidate
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| Contributor | Ralphie |
| Last Edited | Ralphie Feb 02, 2005 09:08am |
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| Category | Proposed Legislation |
| Media | Newspaper - Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| News Date | Wednesday, February 2, 2005 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | OLYMPIA -- When Sen. Cal Anderson died of AIDS 10 years ago, Ed Murray came to Olympia and picked up the dream his predecessor had carried for years but never realized: outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Murray, a Seattle Democrat, also ascended the ranks to become the influential chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and along the way learned that roadblocks in the landscape of lawmaking are as common as traffic jams on King County freeways.
But as much as he came to accept them as part of the process, Murray has learned that disappointment comes in at least two varieties -- the political, which is part of the game, and the personal, which cuts much deeper.
In Murray's case, it hasn't always been easy to keep fighting after years of failure.
It's one thing to see a bill about transportation taxes derailed in the Senate and quite another to debate with lawmakers who don't believe homosexuals should have the same protections as everyone else, said Murray, one of a few openly gay legislators.
"With transportation, disappointment lasts until dinner. With civil rights and discrimination, the disappointment is profound," he said. "Each year, I watch gays and lesbians around the state get demoralized. After 10 years of that, it gets more and more difficult." |
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