OLYMPIA – With the local Gay Pride parade scheduled for Saturday, Gov. Jay Inslee helped raise the Rainbow Flag over the Capitol Campus Friday and said the state succeeds, in part, because it accepts all people.

Statewide unemployment is at the lowest level in decades. Inslee said that’s due in part because companies large and small are willing to come to Washington because it doesn’t care about race, religion or “who a person loves.”

Before helping crank the multi-colored flag up a pole in the circle between the domed Legislative Building and the Temple of Justice, nslee noted the state flag is green, Washington is like the stripes of the Rainbow Flag, accepting people of all colors and sexual orientation. 

In calling for greater national acceptance of sexual orientation, Inslee noted that one of the Capitol Police officers who helped stop an attack on members of Congress and their staffs on Wednesday is a lesbian. Special Agent Crystal Griner was one of three Capitol officers on hand because House Majority Whip was among GOP congressmen practicing for a charity baseball game. Griner and Special Agent David Bailey were wounded before mortally wounding James Hodgkinson, who had sprayed the practice field with bullets.

---

---