Domestic partnership bill clears first hurdle in Wyoming

[Newsjock]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Talk about going against the flow: Wyoming state Rep. Cathy Connolly and her fellow Democrats are not only outnumbered 52 to 8 by Republicans in the state Legislature, but Connolly is the first openly gay representative in the conservative state.

So what happened Monday, she says, can only be characterized as a stunning step forward.

A bill that would allows same-sex couples in Wyoming most of the legal rights of heterosexual couples cleared a subcommittee by a 7-2 vote and is headed to consideration in the full House.

... But advocates also learned that same-sex equality in Wyoming won’t be built in a day: Also Monday, the same House subcommittee handed Connolly a defeat, rejecting 5 to 4 a bill that would have expanded Wyoming’s marriage statutes to permit same-sex marriages in the state.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-domestic-partnership-bill-wyoming-20130128,0,3452422.story

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!! K&R !!! K&R !!! K&R !!! K&R !!! n/t

[Tx4obama]

2. Wyoming Legislative Committee REJECTS Gay Marriage, Passes Domestic Partnerships

Wyoming Legislative Committee Rejects Gay Marriage, Passes Domestic Partnerships

Wyoming legislative committee voted Monday to advance a bill to legalize domestic partnership in the state, while killing a bill to permit gay marriage.

The state House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee issued the split decision Monday afternoon following a contentious two-hour hearing. While supporters of gay marriage described the need for Wyoming -- which is nicknamed the Equality State -- to pass the bill to ensure said equality, opponents offered a number of arguments against gay marriage, including moral and public health concerns. The gay marriage bill failed in a 5-4 vote, while domestic partnerships passed 7-2.

"Homosexual behavior is harmful to the mind, body and spirit," state Rep. Lynn Hutchings (R-Cheyenne) said.

Hutchings, who is African American, called on supporters of gay marriage to "stop carpet-bagging on our civil rights movement," saying that there is no comparison between the two. She said she rejects the comparison because she believes that people choose to be gay. Hutchings also said her ex-fiance had once been gay and decided to become straight.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/wyoming-gay-marriage_n_2568862.html

[TexasTowelie]

3. Any bets that the ex-fiance switched back to his former team after being with Hutchings?

Or was she trying to get a notch on her bedpost for making a conversion.