Senate OKs bill opposing same-sex civil unions
NASHVILLE (AP) — A bill to prevent Tennessee from giving legal recognition to same-sex civil unions passed overwhelmingly Wednesday in the state Senate despite being killed a week earlier by a House subcommittee.
After a 30-minute debate, the Senate voted 27-2 for the bill, with four senators declaring themselves present but not voting. Sens. Steve Cohen and John Ford, both Democrats from Memphis, voted against the measure.
Tennessee already doesn’t allow same-sex civil unions and has a state law defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Advocates of the bill say the state needs to close a “loophole” in the law to prevent recognition in Tennessee of same-sex civil unions sanctioned in other states.
They say the state’s courts need direction on what to do when a same-sex couple joined in a civil union in another state seek benefits commonly accorded married couples, such as survival benefits when a spouse dies.
Sponsor Jeff Miller, R-Cleveland, told colleagues he brought the bill with a “heavy heart,” but felt the Legislature must make the wishes of Tennesseans known before others decide the issue for them.
“I’m not scared of folks who have an alternative lifestyle, I’m not being scared or phobic in one way or another,” he said. “This is about sending a message to our families and upholding traditional marriage.
“Homosexuals are not losing anything today. We’ve not recognized civil unions for over 200 years in our state. We’re just saying this is where we are, and where we want to be.”
Cohen argued vehemently against the bill, calling it a political “wedge issue” designed to hurt legislators’ re-election prospects at home.
“They’re trying to put people in a corner to make a vote that might be considered unpopular,” he said. “There comes a time when you have to vote your conscience, vote for what you think is right.
“… It’s unfortunate when our schools are failing, our economy is hurting, our TennCare system is suffering and our tax structure is inadequate that we have issues such as this brought before us to politicize and to use a minority group in this state to the advantage of the majority.”
The Senate’s vote came one week after a House subcommittee voted the measure down. The sponsor of the bill in that chamber, Rep. Chris Clem, R-Lookout Mountain, declared it dead for the year.
Miller told his colleagues Wednesday there are ways around the subcommittee’s vote, saying “this bill is not dead anywhere.”
House rules allow the committee above a subcommittee to reconsider the lower group’s actions by a two-thirds vote. Once it’s before the full committee, the measure requires only a simple majority for passage.
Senators declaring themselves present but not voting on Miller’s bill were all Democrats: Roscoe Dixon and Jim Kyle, both of Memphis; and Thelma Harper and Douglas Henry, both of Nashville.
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On the Net:
Read SB2661/HB2627 at Tennessee General Assembly:
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/