May 07, 2008

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Tabled

The state Senate has decided to table the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, meaning that all that time the senators wasted debating this is, well, still wasted.

House leaders said if the bill passed the Senate it would be sent to the "House State Government Committee," which apparently not only exists but is chaired by Babette Josephs, who opposes the bill. (She'd no doubt fight extra hard because her district includes the Gayborhood.)

But Vince Fumo knows otherwise! He says the Senate would probably strip the language also banning gays from the “functional equivalent” of marriage (i.e. civil unions). "I think there were enough votes to strip that out and I think that’s what scared them," Fumo told KYW 1060 "So they needed an excuse, and the excuse was the House. Which is fine with me, any face-saver they want is good with me."

Fumo would, of course, let them save face while telling the radio station exactly why the bill was tabled.

Pa. Senate Derails Proposal That Would Ban Gay Marriage [KYW 1060]
Yesterday: Same-Sex Marriage Ban Out Of Committee

Posted by D-Mac at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2008

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Out Of Committee

A state senate committee on wasting time yesterday voted 18-8 to send the ban on same-sex marriage to the full senate.

The bill will probably pass in a vote as early as tomorrow, but the AP reports it might not matter: There's no similar bill in the house, and chances of any bill passing there are slim with Democratic control. (But, boy, wouldn't it be interesting to see how Speaker O'Brien votes on it!) People rallied against the bill after it went out of committee.

Notorious funnyman/lame duck state senator Vince Fumo noted his fellow lawmakers would also vote for genocide, bloodletting, a flat earth, Zeus and bronze tools.

Pa. Senate set to vote on same-sex marriage ban [AP/Philly.com]
[Photo via AP/Daylife]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)