Wyoming Kills Anti-Gay Bill , courtesy of ColoradoConfidential blog:In a dramatic March 1 vote, the Wyoming House Rules Committee killed a bill that would have allowed the state to deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.
In a state that is large (ninth in size) and underpopulated (50th in the US), one that is still filled with working cowboys and ranchers, and one that still has more men than women, a bill denying civil rights to GLBTs was defeated in a House committee after being passed by the Senate. And feelings are running high!
Of course, from this distance I can't prove it, but this is what I think: Activist-outsiders (non-Wyoming citizens) have pushed this through the legislative process. What they thought would be a cakewalk, with a Republican House and Senate (oh, never mind that the governor is a Democrat!), has turned into a sour disappointment for them. And they will likely be back next year...
According to the post on CC, two Republicans House members spoke very eloquently at the Rules Committee's hearing. One has a gay daughter; the other is very young and spoke of gay rights as being "my generation's civil rights struggle".
From 27-year-old Rep. Dan Zwonitzer(R) of Cheyenne:
"Under a democracy the civil rights struggle continues today, where we have one segment of our society trying to restrict rights and privileges from another segment of our society. My parents raised me to know that this is wrong.
"It is wrong for one segment of society to restrict rights and freedoms from another segment of society. I believe many of you have had this conversation with your children.
"And children have listened, my generation, the twenty-somethings, and those younger than I understand this message of tolerance. And in 20 years, when they take the reins of this government and all governments, society will see this issue overturned, and people will wonder why it took so long.
"My kids and grandkids will ask me, why did it take so long? And I can say, hey, I was there, I discussed these issues, and I stood up for basic rights for all people."
But equally dramatic -- and perhaps more surprising -- was the testimony of conservative Rep. Pat Childers (R) of Cody. Childers’ daughter is gay. "My testimony was clearly stating that I oppose the legislation because I just think it is flat wrong," he says.
Childers also compared gay rights to earlier civil rights efforts. "People say you can’t compare gays with blacks. I disagree. Do we deny a class of people their rights? I say, ‘No.’"
SF 13 [the bill had no name] was killed by the House Rules Committee 7-to-6.
Close enough, for this year. And I hope the vote is 13-0 against it next year...
1 comment:
Gives you hope, doesn't it?
I suspect many more traditional conservatives find themselves looking askance at what has been done in their name. Certainly I (a Canadian but keen observer of US politics because where you lead we tend to follow within half-a-decade) had not realized quite how far the lanes had shifted until I saw a)Coulter treated as a serious speaker at CPAC, and b) calling a prominent presidential candidate by a schoolyard insult and being not just accepted but welcomed for saying it rather than being booed from the stage, and c) actually being defended by her peers and d) having the unmitigated gall to repeat it at her next paid-outrage gig.
Imagine how happy they'd all have been if she'd called Obama "african-american" using two g's.
My point is that the people being vilified on Fox as "liberals" now include a significant slice of conservative America, and I think they're waking up to that, and not liking it one bit.
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