Fair to middling?

Is that the best we can do? Because that's what a #24 ranking on the Daily Beast's list of the most and least tolerant states would make us.

24. Washington

Tolerance score: 56 out of 100
Hate crime score: 22 out of 40
Discrimination score: 22 out of 40
Gay rights score: 6 out of 10
Religious Tolerance score: 6 out of 10
Hate crime incidents per 100,000 residents:: 3.1 (32 out of 50 states)
Discrimination cases filed per 100,000 residents:: 20.6 (36 out of 50 states)
Population in support of same-sex marriage:: 54%
Population that believes many religions lead to eternal life:: 68%

24.

A little better than Oregon.

A little worse than Alaska.

No where near good enough.

Much of the score is based on the scope of legal protection. At a time when most of the budget news from Olympia is relentlessly negative, this might be the time for the civil rights and civil liberties constituencies in Washington to organize around a legislative agenda they can sell to the Democratic caucus as the best hope for good news in this session.

There's obviously work to be done.

Hat tip to Skippy.