El Paso Sees Fight Over Partners Vote

After suffering poor national press due to a group of gay men threatened with arrest for kissing in a local restaurant, last week the El Paso, Texas city council voted to extend domestic partner benefits to the city's gay and unwed employees. Right on cue, Christiantists showed up at last night to scream their heads off.

"If our government starts passing laws that are against guidelines in the Bible, it starts to contaminate the spiritual water of our people ... What does God say about homosexuality? He says it is an abomination," said Barney Field of El Paso for Jesus. After the pastors had their say, local activist Lisa Turner spoke up in response to the pastors' comments. "These are the people that are preaching hate. You tell me where in your Bible does it say to preach hate," said Turner. "Forty years ago they were using the same arguments against Black people."

The group made such a big show that they actually stopped Tuesday's meeting. However, because of a loophole in state open meetings rules, Council members were legally barred from responding. This led to several members of Council saying they were willing to stop the meeting and take the debate outside. Once outside, O'Rourke explained that concerns over what some see as "wasteful" spending by the city were unfounded. He explained that the cost of extending benefits to gay and unwed city employees would only add about $200,000 to a $700 million city budget. "It's a drop in the bucket," said O'Rourke. "Basically, what your concerns amount to is a moral issue."

It's presently unclear if city budgetary matters can be put to a popular vote, but local anti-gay activists say they are going to try.