Popkey: Painful day in the Idaho Senate as "Add the Words" gay-rights bill killed

It took five minutes for Republicans on the Senate State Affairs Committee to extinguish a bill Friday that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

But the anguish that darkened their faces as Minority Leader Edgar Malepeai pleaded with colleagues to introduce his bill lingered.

Midway through his pitch, the Pocatello Democrat stopped speaking for 25 seconds to collect himself, to the discomfort of the seven committee Republicans. Custom holds that lawmakers’ bills, especially those brought by members of leadership like Malepeai, are printed as a courtesy. This was an exception, in significant part because Republicans fear right-wing reprisals.

What Malepeai finally finished saying was this: “In my opinion, it would be profoundly disrespectful not to afford those tens of thousands of families affected by this legislation to give at least — at least — a printing of the bill ... (and) allow them to speak of the harm that’s been done.”

Three hours later, the Senate held its annual observance of Lincoln’s birthday, leaving Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis of Bonneville holding his head in agony.

Davis, among the Republicans who voted against expanding the Idaho Human Rights Act, said the irony of the two events was “very much” on his mind. He declined to elaborate.

Davis did say he supports a legislative remedy along the lines sought by Malepeai — just not the vehicle before the committee.

“Idaho needs to find a way to craft language that protects employment and housing — to me, those are issues of human dignity — but to do it in a way that does not create a protected class,” said Davis.

Would Davis, a lawyer and draftsman of considerable experience, help revise Malepeai’s bill?

“No,” he said with resignation, “I don’t believe the Legislature is going to work on that legislation this year.”

The committee’s decision left a room of about 300 advocates stunned. One called out, “Shame on you.” Another, “What a joke.” Most were quiet, leaving sticky notes that symbolize the campaign, including this from Tim Walsh: “Bigotry hurts everyone. Add the words.”

Walsh was among about 30 wearing T-shirts that said “Add the Words Idaho.” They stood, hands over mouths, as the hangdog committee filed from the room. Then they sang “We Shall Overcome.”

Walsh is a former Idaho GOP staffer and Pat Buchanan delegate to the 1996 Republican National Convention. He lost friends after coming out. “You go from this kid with all this potential to an abomination. And what changed?”

Walsh vowed to keep pressing: “We’ll see them next year.”

The timing may be better then, perhaps reviving the courage of incumbents who fear challenges from the right in the GOP’s new closed primary May 15.

“I’m sure that had a lot to do with it,” Malepeai said.

Senate GOP Caucus Chairman John McGee of Caldwell was among the no votes Friday. Already saddled with a nasty DUI last summer, McGee simply wasn’t willing to give a challenger the chance to say he supports the “gay lifestyle.”

Would his vote have been different absent the primary? “I don’t even think in those terms,” dodged McGee.

“Nobody here believes in discrimination against anybody,” McGee said. “But at the same time I don’t think we want to create special groups and special categories. ... The issue becomes, where does it stop?”

Ah, yes, the slippery slope to special rights for practitioners of bestiality and pedophilia.

Maria Minicucci vowed to return next year. “I don’t think giving up is an option. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I want to be a professional baseball player, but I’m not good enough, so I give up.’ It’s not something I can give up.”

She had an apt question: “What are they afraid of?”

In a word: losing.

To me, the most poignant figure after the vote was Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg. Asking for a break from reporters, Hill said he simply didn’t want to comment. Instead, he fussed with the Senate’s red velvet curtains like an aging, confused, embarrassed uncle.

Hill, who is LDS and deeply religious, is the kindest man of his rank I’ve known since I began covering the Legislature 25 years ago. This vote hurt him — not as much as it hurt Walsh or Minicucci — but it stung because it made him feel mean.

For Hill, a whiff of grace came after the 30-minute Lincoln ceremony. Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, is Idaho’s only openly gay lawmaker. She stood to introduce her partner, Carol Growhoski, and other Add The Words supporters in the gallery, and asked for a warm Senate welcome.

Hill led the applause with self-rebuking enthusiasm.

Dan Popkey: 377-6438