The bill to prevent gay people from adopting or being foster parents, even if blood relatives of a child, passed the Senate today. No roll call yet. Some tussling on the emergency clause, which failed, needing 24 votes.
The bill passed 20-7. The honor roll:
Nays – Argue, Brown, Bryles, Crumbly, Madison, Salmon, Steele.
Not voting — Hill , J. Jeffress, Luker, T. Smith, J. Taylor, R. Thompson, Wilkins.
Broadway was “excused.”
Debate highlight: Argue asked Womack if he was a homosexual. Madison asked Womack if he believed homosexuals were biologically capable of having children and, if so, did he favor taking children from them should they have them. Womack’s response: He’s proudly heterosexual (though he had no ready way of answering Argue’s pointed question on how you’d prove such a thing, an obvious flaw in the bill) and this bill isn’t about natural-born children. That comes later, undoubtedly, along with the yellow stars.
But the debate did give rise to this question: How many members of the legislature are closeted homosexuals? Where do they stand on this bill?