OLYMPIA – The state House passed a gay civil rights bill on Friday, sending the measure to the Senate, where a Republican’s change of heart may help it become law.
The measure passed on a 60-37 vote, with six Republicans joining 54 Democrats to pass it.
Under the bill, “sexual orientation” would be added to a state law that bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance. Businesses with fewer than eight employees would be exempt.
Sixteen other states have passed similar laws.
“This legislation is about more than just changing the law, it is about sending a message,” said Rep. Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat who has sponsored the measure for 11 years.
“A message that the United States and Washington state is a place of tolerance. A message that in Washington state the American Dream applies not to just some of our citizens but to all of our citizens, including our gay and lesbian citizens.”
The measure was first introduced in 1976. The state’s first openly gay lawmaker, Democrat Cal Anderson of Seattle, sponsored it for eight years before he died of AIDS in 1995.
Gov. Chris Gregoire has said she will sign the bill if it gets to her desk.
The bill failed in the Senate last year by one vote. Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, announced earlier this month that he would switch his vote to yes, all but assuring its passage
House Republicans argued Friday that the bill was an unnecessary expansion of government.
Rep. Don Cox, R-Colfax, said while House Republicans share Murray’s commitment against hate and bigotry, they are concerned the measure could result in lawsuits against people who don’t realize the person they failed to hire, or fired, was gay.
First-term Rep. Chris Strow, R-Freeland, voted against the bill.
“This is a vote that I lose more sleep over than anything else we do down here,” he said. “In the end, this bill is overreaching.”
Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, voted against the bill for the fourth time.
“It wasn’t any easier or harder,” he said.
He said he received four or five calls from constituents urging him to support the bill and about 400 to oppose it.
He said while individuals may suffer discrimination in situations, gays and lesbians as a class of people have not been discriminated in the way blacks were banned from the front of buses and women denied the right to vote.
“Government has never done that to this particular group” and thus the law is not needed, he said.
Republicans amended the bill on the House floor to add that it would not modify or change state marriage laws. A state Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage could come at any time.
Four other amendments from Republicans were rejected, including a clause that would require the measure to be approved by voters in the next general election.
“We have to take leadership and action,” said Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle. “We cannot pass this on to the voters.”
The bill has a public hearing before a Senate committee on Tuesday, and could reach the Senate floor by the end of next week.
The gay civil rights bill is House Bill 2661.
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