Equality with an asterisk?

The conference committee offers its “compromise” on equality

The conference committee on House Bill 74 – Validity of marriage will present a report to the Senate and the House on Friday that says there will be no compromise over civil unions.
Same-sex unions, regardless of whether they are legal in their state of origin, will NOT be recognized in Wyoming if the committee’s report is adopted.

The conference committee, which included Reps. Amy Edmonds (R-HD12, Cheyenne), Kendall Kroeker (R-HD 35, Casper) and Jim Roscoe (D-HD22, Wilson) and Sens. Floyd Esquibel, (D-SD8, Cheyenne), Larry Hicks (R-SD11, Baggs) and Leslie Nutting (R-SD7, Cheyenne), voted 4-2 to strip a Senate amendment aimed at recognizing same-sex civil unions made in other states. Roscoe and Esquibel opposed the committee proposal.

"We're just digging ourselves further into a quagmire," Esquibel said to explain his opposition to what he considers a bad bill.

Instead, the conference committee will ask the House and Senate to adopt an amendment that makes clear that Wyoming will recognize any marriage or civil union between two people legally made anywhere so long as those marriages and unions are between one man and one woman.
Here’s the Senate amendment the committee stripped from the bill. It would rest under statute number 20-1-111 Out of state marriages.:

"(c) Parties to a domestic or other legal civil union lawfully entered into in another state, commonwealth, territory, district or possession of the United States or a foreign nation, which are not recognized as a marriage under the laws of Wyoming, shall be entitled to access to the courts of the state for the purposes or resolving disputes that arise out of their domestic or other legal civil union.".

The committee instead proposes this language:

“(c) Parties to a marriage or other legal civil union lawfully entered into in another state, commonwealth, territory, district or possession of the United States or a foreign nation, which is recognized as a valid marriage or other legal civil union under subsections (a) or (b) of this section, shall be entitled access to the courts of the state of Wyoming for the purposes of resolving disputes that arise out of their marriage or other legal civil union.”

Both sections (a) and (b) stipulate that marriage contracts are valid “provided that such marriage contracts are between a male and a female person.”

Neither section refers to civil unions.

Since the Senate passed the bill relying upon the idea that state law would recognize legal civil unions made outside Wyoming, the conference committee recommendation may not win majority support in that chamber.

Please act now
The ESPC urges Wyomingites to write their state senators to vote to reject the conference committee report. The bill clearly discriminates against many people who live in Wyoming who have secured legal marriage contracts or civil unions in other states or countries. Please tell your senator to vote NO against the conference report.

While you’re at it, please contact your state representative and likewise ask them to reject this discriminatory legislation.

Wyoming should live up to its motto as the Equality State.

Participate
Citizens can register their opposition to HB 74 by using the “Online Hotline” or the telephone Hotline – 1-866-966-8683 or, in Cheyenne, 777-8683.

Note on the photo
That's the committee in the photo. From left, Sen. Floyd Esquibel, Rep. Kendall Kroeker, Co-Chairman Rep. Amy Edmonds, Co-Chairman Sen. Larry Hicks, Sen. Leslie Nutting, Rep. Jim Roscoe.

Protest today on Capitol steps

Full Senate ready to take up bill voiding same-sex marriage contracts

Majority Leader Tony Ross is ready to bring to the Senate floor the debate to determine whether the state will move to void existing same-sex marriage contracts in Wyoming.

House Bill 74 – Validity of marriage will bring Wyoming under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to ignore valid marriage contracts made in other states and countries if those marriages are not between a man and a woman. The bill also bars same sex civil unions.

Ross told Wyoming Public Radio yesterday that an amendment may be needed to open the possibility of same sex civil unions.

"The question would be should there be an amendment to the bill to at least adjudicate or allow access to our courts so that those who may have a civil union from another state and not force them to go back to another state to have their rights adjudicated," Ross told WNPR,

Opponents of the bill have been working tirelessly to move senators to oppose the bill. They’re focusing on the bill’s essential discrimination against homosexual people and have pointed out that much of the impetus for the bills is coming from fundamentalist churches pushing their religious views on all Wyoming residents.

Here’s an excerpt from an email Wyoming Equality President Joe Corrigan sent to one senator:

HOuse Bill 74 " ... is not about fairness. It gives rights to one group that it denies to another. The groups promoting this bill construe scripture to inflict a narrow view of God on the rest of us. Then they narrow the view even more by not only denying marriage, but also denying civil unions. It is wrong to use scripture to divide God’s people, and it is wrong to use the law to create an unfair playing field. The groups promoting this bill are trying to use the law to practice exclusion, intolerance, and discrimination.

“I have always felt strongly in separation of church and state. If we take a few churches out of this argument, one sees no reason to pass this bill. On the other hand if we insist on keeping churches in the argument, why are we ignoring churches like the Episcopalians, The United Church of Christ, The Unitarian Universalists, and many Lutherans? These churches are the religious communities of this state working to stop this bill?”

A protest has been organized today by Rodger McDaniel, a former agency head under retired Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a pastor, and a former state legislator. Here are the details:

* * * SUPPORT MARRIAGE EQUALITY! * * *
Demonstration by hetero-married couples on the Capitol steps
in Cheyenne -- 1pm, Wednesday, Feb. 16. Bring a copy of your
marriage certificate to burn. ALL ARE INVITED to show
support for basic decency & equality.

For more info: http://blowinginthewyomingwind.blogspot.com/

We hope to see you there.

Public meetings
The Senate Travel Recreation and Wildlife Committee on Tuesday morning approved HB 120 – Public meetings. The bill will require the more than 500 state, local, and special district elected and appointed boards to handle their meetings to assure the public’s ability to track and participate in them as appropriate. The boards must:

1. Give at least 12 hours notice of any special meeting;
2. Announce the purpose of all executive sessions;
3. Make and retain audio recordings of executive sessions.
   

Holly Dabb, publisher of the Rock Springs Rocket-Miner, told the committee that the Sweetwater County Commission last year conducted more than 60 special meetings giving only 10 minutes notice of their plans to convene. The public simply had no opportunity to participate and observe as significant decisions were made.

The committee approved the bill on a 4-1 vote with only Chairman Bruce Burns (R-SD21, Sheridan) opposed. Sens. Leland Christensen (R-SD17, Alta), Dan Dockstader (R-SD16, Afton), Ogden Driskill (R-SD1, Devils Tower) and Floyd Esquibel (D-SD8, Cheyenne) voted AYE on the bill.

A look at death penalty issues sponsored by ACLU and UW law students

People in southeast Wyoming may want to attend public screening of a documentary film about a death penalty case involving a young woman who aged out of foster care. The film presentation is sponsored by the Wyoming Chapter of the ACLU and the Wyoming Law Students for Equal Justice. Here’s the announcement:

NO TOMORROW, A Documentary by Public Policy Productions
Who: Free showing; open to the public
When: Thursday, February 24, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Where: University of Wyoming Law School, Room 186
Moderated discussion by Tina Kerin, Appellate Counsel for the Wyoming State Public Defender
AND dessert to follow

NO TOMORROW investigates the murder of Risa Bejarano, the principal subject of the film, AGING OUT, about teenagers leaving foster care. NO TOMORROW explores how the film about Risa’s last year of life unexpectedly became the centerpiece of a chilling death penalty trial. The film covers the trial’s most dramatic moments in Judge Lance Ito’s courtroom, including a heated debate over the prosecutor’s use of AGING OUT to persuade the jury to impose the death penalty. While the trial focuses on whether Risa’s murderer deserves to die, several leading death penalty experts address the broader question of whether the state deserves to kill him.