washington

Washington governor Jay Inslee signed a bill earlier this week that will change all the state's statutes, dating back to 1854, to gender-neutral descriptions.

Welcome back to SheWired's exclusive series 'Out on Campus.' We are busy combing college campuses across the nation -- or even around the world -- to bring readers a varied perspective on coming out or being openly lesbian at college. This week, Melissa Gindin shares her story about being out at George Washington University.

Friends and family gathered to mourn a 14-year-old student from Cashmere, Wash. who committed suicide last week after he was bullied for being gay. His death is at least the fourth suicide reported this year among LGBT youth.

Writer and lesbian culture guru Diana Cage weighs in on her trip to Washington D.C. and to the National Equality March and rally. Along the way she encountered pissed of dykes and gay seniors citizens all stumping for the long overdue rights. She tips her hat to Lt. Dan Choi and applauds President Obama for opening for Lady Gaga at the HRC dinner... and much, much more.

She's gone gay on film twice, stumped for Obama, and held her own with Bill Maher. Now Kerry Washington tackles her toughest role to date: as a transsexual, heroin-addicted prostitute in Life Is Hot in Cracktown.

June may be famous for its brides, but it's also known for pride around the world. Here's the first in a series of worldwide pride photos we'll run throughout the month. Check out Pride from Washington D.C., Queens, NY., Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.

It’s been a good year for Scandal star Kerry Washington. Not only is she a master thespian who once played lesbian in Spike Lee’s She Hate Me but she’s a total brainy type who delivered a thoughtful, eloquent speech at the Democratic National Convention this summer. And, she’s jaw-droppingly hot on the cover of Uptown magazine.

Lately Kerry Washington has been making a splash as Olivia Pope, the fierce fixer of all things down-and-dirty in Washington politics on ABC’s Scandal, but next up she’s got the female lead in bad boy director Quentin Tarantino’s re-imagining on the Spaghetti Western in Django Unchained. The first posters of Washington in western garb have dropped and we’re already thinking she’s worth the price of admission alone.

Running neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney according to a new national poll of Republican primary voters, Rick Santorum spent Monday campaigning in Washington state, where primary voters head to the polls March 3 and where Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law a marriage equality bill during an exuberant ceremony yesterday at the state capitol.

Washington state senator Ed Murray called historic passage of a marriage equality bill in the chamber late last evening a “stunning event” — and one that likely faces heated right-wing opposition in the form of a referendum. Murray, lead sponsor of the senate bill and one of several gay legislators in the state, told the Seattle Times, "For a lot of people in my age group, this is a stunning event. It's something we did not believe would happen in our lifetime."

Lawmakers in Olympia, Wash., introduced a marriage equality bill in the state senate Monday — Valentine's Day — and a companion bill is set to be introduced in the state house Tuesday. Same-sex marriage has been banned in Washington since 1998, when the legislature passed the state's Defense of Marriage Act. Washington's DOMA doesn't prevent the legislature from reversing the ban on marriage equality, and Democrats control both houses of the legislature as well as the governor's mansion.

Washington state's Referendum 71 was approved by the voters, confirming the right for gay and lesbian couples to have civil unions that, in most respects are equal to marriage.