Source: Denver Post, Associated Press via Post Independent
Denver -- The Colorado Senate gave preliminary approval today to a bill that would expand the prohibition of sexual orientation-based discrimination, but only after an intense floor debate that became personal and emotional after a senator offered a rhetorical amendment mocking the legislation.
Republican Sen. Greg Brophy, who stands 5-foot-6, suggested changing the bill to protect short people from discrimination. Democratic Sen. Jennifer Veiga, who is a lesbian, took offense. She said it must nice to be able to mock discrimination experienced by other people.
Brophy withdrew the stunt amendment after arguing that there is no need for the bill because he has not seen evidence that gays and lesbians are discriminated against when seeking a job or a home.
"What I'm talking about is economic discrimination, political discrimination, employment discrimination," Brophy said. "I find no pattern of any of those."
Brophy's comments outraged Democrats, who took turns at the lectern denouncing his argument with angry and sometimes shaking voices.
"It must be nice," said Jennifer Veiga, a Denver Democrat sponsoring Senate Bill 200 who is gay, "as a white male to sit back and mock the real discrimination that occurs in our society, especially on the basis of sexual orientation."
Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, came close to tears when recalling the ugly fights surrounding the state's Amendment 2, which prohibited laws protecting gays and lesbians and which the U.S. Supreme Court later overturned.
Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, spoke about his son, who is gay and who moved to Oregon to be a prosecutor several years ago because he felt Colorado was not accepting of him.
"I'm hoping, with the passage of this bill, he can come home and feel comfortable in this state," Tapia said.
And Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, said he was disgusted by Brophy's amendment.
"Discrimination is a practice that has gone on in this country too long," Groff said. "It is the birth defect of this country. And I think it's time we deal with that."
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill protecting gays and lesbians from being fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation. The new measure (Senate Bill 200) would protect them from things such as renting an apartment or getting a table in a restaurant.
It must pass another vote before it can move to the House.
Full article: Gay-bias debate heated at statehouse - The Denver Post
Colorado State senate backs anti-discrimination bill for gays and lesbians | Glenwood Springs Post Independent (AP)