Metro Council passes passes homosexual domestic partner employee benefits bill.

As expected, on third and final reading, the Metro Council passed the same-sex domestic partner employee benefits bill last night. The vote was 27 for, 7 against and 3 abstentions. Three people were absent or just chose to not vote at all.

The picture to the left from News Channel 5 shows who voted which way. Two Republican Council members, Carter Todd and Charlie Tygerd, voted in favor of the bill.  Republican Council member Davette Blalock abstained from voting. All three of the not voting or absent Council members were Republican members of the Council.  Josh Stites led the charge against the bill when it was on second reading, but Karen Bennett voted to abstain when the bill was on second reading. There was no effort on the part of the Bible-believing Christian or social conservative community to stop the bill's passage. The homosexual community worked hard to pass the bill.

The Tennessean reports, "... but some council members spoke out strongly against the policy before the vote. Councilman Bill Pridemore said his and his constituents' values would be 'compromised' by the idea, and Councilman Phil Claiborne moved to defer the final vote indefinitely, citing budgetary concerns. But Councilman Lonnell Matthews moved to table Claiborne's motion, and the council agreed.'"

Below is the WZTV FOX 17 report on the vote.

As expected the Council also passed the $1.89 billion budget which did not call for a tax increase.

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