Us Immigration woes

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The last time same-sex marriage was debated in the Washington state Legislature, lawmakers voted to ban it. Fourteen years later, the issue is before the Legislature once again after a multiyear effort that has incrementally increased rights to gay and lesbian couples in the state.

And this time around, it looks like Washington could very well become the seventh state plus the District of Columbia to legalize same-sex marriage.

Gay marriage has won the backing of several prominent Pacific Northwest businesses, including Microsoft Corp. and NIKE, Inc., and just this week a conservative Democrat who once opposed same-sex marriage said he will now vote for it.