Kentucky's state
senate passed a bill 30-5 on Wednesday that would bar
state agencies, including its eight public universities,
from granting LGBT employees benefits for their
partners.
The bill's
opponents were Democrats from Louisville, Lexington, and
Winchester, according to The [Louisville] Courier
Journal.
"The only thing
that drives this measure is a gay-bashing effort,"
said openly gay senator Ernesto Scorsone, who was one of the
five opponents.
Bill supporters
said that offering domestic partner benefits would
violate the state constitution which was amended to ban gay
marriage in 2004. University presidents, however, have
opposed the bill, because they say it hurts
recruitment efforts for researchers and professors.
According to the
article, trustees from the University of Louisville
voted to be the first in the state to extend health
insurance benefits to unmarried domestic partners. In
1997 the university set out to become a top
metropolitan research university. Spokesman John Drees said
that the bill would make reaching that goal difficult.
"If you want to
compete with the best universities and the best
corporations, you need to be able to offer the same types of
benefits they offer," he said in the article.
The University of
Kentucky soon followed suit, while Eastern Kentucky
University is currently evaluating whether to offer
benefits.
House health and
welfare committee chairman Tom Burch has threatened to
stall the amendment, which he opposes, when it reaches his
committee. (The Advocate)
