Washington state poised to legalize gay marriage; pastor calls for Starbucks boycott

Will Washington state become the seventh American state to permit gay and lesbian nuptials?

We'll have to wait and see. But the Pacific Northwest state, which is home to the Georgia Straight's Savage Love columnist Dan Savage (who recently freaked out at Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Canada not recognizing his same-sex marriage), is one step closer.

The Washington state Senate passed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage with a 28-21 vote in favour of the measure on Wednesday (Feburary 1), according to reports.

The measure will head to the House of Representatives. Governor Chris Gregoire has said she would support and sign the bill. However, it could still be challenged by a referendum.

Opponents would need to collect 120,577 signatures of registered voters by July 6.

Six U.S. states recognize same-sex marriage: New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. Moves are also underway to debate legalizing it in Maryland, New Jersey, and Maine.

But one opponent is taking aim at your daily dose of caffeine. (That's particularly for those of you south of the border who don't have Tim Hortons, Blenz, or Second Cup.)

One day prior to the passage of the bill, pastor Steven Andrew of USA Christian Ministries called for a boycott of Seattle-based Starbucks, which supports same-sex marriage in Washington. Starbucks is one of more than 100 companies that support gay marriage in Washington state, including Google, Microsoft, and Nike.

In an online post called "Christians Boycott Starbucks—Because Romans 1 Explains Starbucks Hates God", Andrew says “This boycott is important because God blesses those who obey Him and judges those who don’t obey Him (2 Chronicles 19:2).”

Andrew estimates Starbucks could lose 80 percent of its customers if Christians boycotted the coffee giant. (It also means Christians are narrowing down their shopping options since they can't patronize either Starbucks or JC Penney without going to hell.)

“Starbucks can follow Satan if they want to," he said in the post. "However, pastors are to help Christians. Are you on the Lord’s side? Will you help the USA be blessed by God?”

Its caffeine notwithstanding, could a cup of joe truly be that evil?

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig. You can also follow the Straight's LGBT coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/StraightLGBT.

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