The Colorado House of Representatives today passed, on a voice vote, HB 1344, the domestic partnership bill. Best quote of the day: Rep. Jack Pommer (D-Boulder), who said that Rep. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) opposed the bill because he (Lundberg) is full of hate. Pommer got shouted down for the breach of decorum, but he nailed it - Lundberg is a known homophobe.
Of course, the R's got their digs in too. Rep. Lynn Hefley (R-Colorado Springs), wife of US Congresscritter Joel Hefley, dragged out the "some of my best friends are gay, but" argument. She said that her gay friends, with whom she hangs out at the local tennis club, tell her they don't support the bill because "they don't want to flaunt it."
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Tom Plant (D-Nederland) who two years ago put the hammer down on the homophobes with one line. One of the Rs said during the debate that marriage is only for procreation. Plant then asked if his marriage is not legitimate because he and his wife cannot have children. That stopped the debate cold - none of the haters could respond.
The bill passed this morning on a voice vote and will have a role call vote on Monday.
I had to say away from the state capitol today because I was afraid I could not restrain myself from bitch-slapping some of the Republicans.
Other example: Rep. David Schultheis, R of (surprise!) Colorado Springs. Wednesday's Rocky Mountain News had an article about the growth in Hispanic businesses in the US, which said Hispanics have been starting businesses at a much faster rate than the national rate for all U.S. companies. Schultheis responded by saying the state should be checking all the Hispanic business licenses to make sure the Hispanic owners are in this country legally.
Edited to add: corrected the position of Lundberg; he opposes the bill. Also; a technical recorded vote on the bill showed it passed 41-23, which means at least six Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with the Dems.