Story Photos
 Photo by Associated Press In Olympia Monday, Linda Baker of Renton, left, and Kim Nuesse of Kelso, right, join others on the Capitol steps during a rally in support of legislation to protect gay and lesbian citizens from discrimination in housing, employment and insurance. |
Doumit stands firm for gay rights bill
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 6:28 AM PST
By Don Jenkins
Printable version
E-mail this articleOLYMPIA ---- Although targeted for lobbying by the religious right, Cathlamet state Sen. Mark Doumit said Tuesday he will vote to add sexual orientation to Washington's anti-discrimination law if the bill makes it to the Senate floor.
"This is about fairness --- keeping people working and keeping people productive in our workplace without feeling like they're going to be discriminated against and lose their job," Doumit said.
Colorado-based Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of James Dobson's ministry, placed 75,000 automated phone calls last week in three legislative districts, including the 19th District, which Doumit represents.
In a recorded message, Focus on the Family radio correspondent Terry Phillips alerted people to an "urgent need" and asked them to encourage their senator to oppose House Bill 2661.
The bill would prohibit discrimination in housing, employment and financial transactions based on sexual orientation. It has already passed the House, but still must clear the Senate.
Besides Doumit, Focus on the Family Action targeted Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, and Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, as lawmakers who could persuaded to vote against the bill.
"They are in districts where we felt the citizens would be particularly alarmed at how their senators planned to vote," said Peter Brandt, senior director of public policy for Focus on the Family Action in Colorado Springs.
"We generated calls to households with people who we had reason to believe would view this issue in a manner somewhat similar to us."
Doumit said being contacted about the bill is nothing new for him. "We get a lot of calls on this from both sides of the issue," he said.
The Focus on the Family Action mistakenly told 19th District constituents that Doumit voted against the anti-discrimination bill last year and "needs encouragement to oppose the bill again this year."
Actually, Doumit voted for the bill, but while a House member in 1998, he voted to prohibit gay marriage.
"I'm still in favor of marriage between a man and woman," he said. "But this is another subject as far as I'm concerned."
Finkbeiner voted against the gay-rights bill last year when it failed to pass the Senate by one vote. He announced two weeks ago he would switch votes if given another chance.
Senate leaders last year won Rasmussen's vote for the bill only after agreeing to add a provision affirming the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
In the phone calls, Phillips stated that "activists" are pushing the anti-discrimination bill without cause.
"Civil-rights leaders are pointing out that gays are not being discriminated against the way blacks in the state have been," according to Phillips.
The recurring argument that blacks had it worse than gays came up again Tuesday at a hearing on the bill by the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing and Consumer Protection Committee.
"I'm very offended by the fact of saying it is a civil-rights issue compared to what other minorities have gone through," said Ken Hutcherson, pastor of the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond.
Another African-American, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle President James Kelley, said he wasn't interested in debating who's treated worst. "The bottom line is discrimination is discrimination."
The committee approved referring the bill to the full Senate by a 7-3 vote after rejecting amendments offered by rotund Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, to prohibit discrimination based on weight or political affiliation. It could come to a vote on the Senate floor by the end of this week.
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