Washington
State's Republican former senate minority leader said Monday
he will reverse himself and vote for a gay civil rights
bill, all but assuring its passage this year after two
decades of debate and narrow defeats.
Sen. Bill Finkbeiner's decision last year to
stick with his Republican colleagues led to the
measure's one-vote defeat in the senate after it
sailed through the house. The measure would add sexual
orientation to a state law that already bans
discrimination in housing, employment, and insurance
based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital
status, and other factors.
"I've had a number of conversations over the
past year that have led me to more fully understand
the level of discrimination against gays and lesbians,
and I now find it is both appropriate and necessary for the
state to make it clear that this is not acceptable,"
Finkbeiner said in a written statement obtained by the
Associated Press before it was widely released.
The bill has been introduced and rejected
annually for nearly 30 years in the legislature. The
house last year passed the bill 61-37, with six
Republicans joining 55 Democrats to pass it. But it lost in
the senate, where two Democrats, Jim Hargrove of
Hoquiam and Tim Sheldon of Potlatch, joined 23
Republicans in defeating the bill.
Finkbeiner, who stepped down as senate minority
leader last year, is a former Democrat who supported
the bill once before when he was a house member. "It's
an issue that I've struggled with since I've been in
the legislature," Finkbeiner said by phone. "I know there
are going to be some people who are disappointed.
Hopefully, they understand this is an issue of conscience."
Joseph Fuiten, a Bothell pastor who is chairman
of Faith and Freedom Network, an organization that
opposes the bill, said Finkbeiner is not representing
his constituents. "It's time for Bill Finkbeiner to move
on," Fuiten said. "I'll never endorse him again. He is not
representing the values of the 45th district or the views of
the people in the 45th district."
Finkbeiner, a social moderate from the Seattle
suburbs, faces a potentially grueling challenge for
reelection this fall in a district that has voted
Democratic in recent elections. Software millionaire Eric
Oemig has announced his intention to seek the
Democratic nomination.
Finkbeiner was a Democrat when he was first
elected to the state house in 1992 but switched
parties in the Republican landslide year of 1994, when
he won the first of his senate terms. Gay rights activists
have vowed to challenge incumbent suburban Republicans
who vote against the antidiscrimination bill this
year. The major employer in Finkbeiner's district,
Microsoft, also has come out in favor of the measure, a year
after being denounced for quietly dropping support for it.
Rep. Ed Murray, a Democrat from Seattle who has
sponsored the bill for more than a decade, called
Finkbeiner's announcement "courageous." "I think he
should be commended by Democrats and Republicans alike
for making a courageous decision, to being open to
listening to people and willing to change his mind," Murray said.
Murray said Finkbeiner had told him this past
weekend that he was going to change his vote. "This
bill has been a roller coaster ride," Murray said.
"I'm excited and very, very cautious."
Gov. Christine Gregoire praised Finkbeiner's
decision. "He recognizes the need to drive
discriminatory practices out of Washington," she said
in a written statement. Gregoire gave her support to
Murray's bill, which was set to be introduced on
Tuesday. While the bill will have no trouble passing
the house, supporters in the senate will have to make
sure no other lawmakers switch their vote. Fuiten said that
his organization is hoping to get some Democrats who
may be on the fence to vote against the measure.
But senate majority leader Lisa Brown, a
Democrat from Spokane, said the votes in her caucus
are solid, though she didn't want to celebrate the
bill's victory just yet. "I wait until I see the number on
the board," she said. (AP)
