Apparently rejecting gay nominees is now in fashion in red-state legislatures. First, the Virginia legislature, in the middle of the night, killed the judicial nomination of highly-qualified Tracy Thorne-Begland. The reason? I'll let Delegate Bob Marshall (R-Manassas) sum it up:
I don’t even think it’s proper to put his name forward because of his behavior.
Now, we're seeing a somewhat similar situation unfold in Oklahoma. Jim Roth, an openly gay Democrat and Oklahoma City attorney, was nominated by Governor Mary Fallin to serve on the State Election Board. Upon his nomination, he was allowed to serve on the board pending his confirmation. But that didn't last long. Not only was he turned down by the Senate Rules Committee--he wasn't even given a vote.
From the Enid News and Eagle:
Fallin nominated former Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth to the Oklahoma State Election Board last fall. Roth has since served as a member of the election board, pending a Senate confirmation hearing.
“When selecting nominees to the state election board, the governor is required to pick one Democrat member and an alternate off a list submitted by the chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party,” said the governor’s communications director, Alex Weintz. “Of the 11 candidates submitted by Chairman Wallace Collins, the governor felt that Jim Roth was the most qualified to serve on the election board given his record of public service.”
But a vote was not held on Roth's confirmation, effectively blocking his nomination entirely.
Committee Chairman Senator Rob Johnson (R-Kingfisher), however, claims that it wasn't because of Roth's sexual orientation. Rather, he says, it was because Roth used to be a statewide officeholder.
Before his current nomination, Roth was appointed to the Corporation Commission by Gov. Brad Henry in 2007, to fill the unexpired term of Denise Bode. Roth lost his bid for election to the seat in 2008 to Republican Dana Murphy.
[...]
It was Roth’s past service as a corporation commissioner that Senate Rules Committee Chairman Sen. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, cited in blocking Roth from a hearing before the Senate.
“There was a lot of concern among our caucus about putting someone who was a former statewide office holder on the election board,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he and other committee members thought it was inappropriate to confirm a former state elected office holder to the election board, where he could encounter conflicts of interest with former opponents.
Johnson continues:
Somebody’s private life is none of my business, and I don’t see any relevance whatsoever between that and him being on the election board.
Roth isn't buying it. He feels it is just a "public excuse." And you have to admit, it
is rather strange reasoning. Roth has this to say:
I have heard some unfortunate scuttlebutt from the Capitol that some individuals objected to my nomination because I am a gay Oklahoman...It’s disappointing, when you step forward to volunteer to serve the public, for it to end like this.
Every nominee except Roth on the agenda was approved.
Rules Committee member Senator Patrick Anderson (R-Enid) says that, contrary to what Johnson claims, sexual orientation was very likely the reason Roth didn't get a hearing.
I think the major reason he didn’t get out of the committee is because he’s gay...[The decision not to allow a hearing is] the chairman’s decision, and the chairman chose not to hear his nomination.
According to Anderson, his former officeholding would be a reason
to confirm Roth.
Furthermore, he’s been on the election board for six months or more, and I think he’s obviously been doing his job and he knows how to do the job.
Senator Constance Johnson (D-Oklahoma City) is more vehement:
It represents a failure of leadership on the part of the Republican Party and of representative democracy in our state. They’re turning Jim’s appointment into a political issue instead of following the process, and that’s my biggest issue with this. For us to refuse an individual the opportunity to go through that process and be vetted by that process is not how government is supposed to operate. We are a government of the people, by the people, for the people, and it shouldn’t be about the preferences of one person.
And Senator Al McKaffrey (D-Oklahoma City), who is gay himself, also sees discrimination at play:
Senators do not want during election time to vote on a gay person. That is what it comes down to.
Way to go, Oklahoma Republicans. Like your ilk in Virginia, you have rejected a superbly-qualified nominee on the basis of which gender he is attracted to. You've effectively fired a man because he's gay.
The twenty-first century...some legislators need to move into it. Now.