Date: Thu, 19 May 94 07:01:21 PDT
From: czweig@eis.calstate.edu (Charles H. Zweig)

The following article is a repost from GayNet.
AB 2810 has subsequently also passed thru the
Assembly Ways & Means Committee. However, this
article shows the political maneuvers used to 
get it through the Judiciary Committee.

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DOMESTIC PARTNERS BILL AB 2810 MOVES OUT OF JUDICIARY 
COMMITTEE
        by Aaron Marcus

AB 2810 unexpectedly vaulted out of the  Assembly Judiciary Committee
last month, beginning a legislative trip that may find Governor Pete
Wilson faced with another difficult political decision on gay and 
lesbian civil rights: the recognition of domestic partnerships.

Passage of a domestic partnership bill this legislative year seemed
like a long shot when it was first announced, but two significant
events took place that improved the odds of the bill passing: the
unconditional support of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San 
Francisco) [ed. note: prominent African American politician
and long time friend of lesbigay community] and the embracement of AB 2810
by the senior community, support that was readily apparent at the Judiciary
Committee hearing on April 13.

Betty Perry, a representative from  the Older Women's League,
and Mildred Becker of the Gray Panthers both testified in
favor of AB 2810 at the hearing, along with Acting Secretary
of State Tony Miller and former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin.

There were also the usual opposing players at the hearing, 
including Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values 
Coalition (TVC) and Art Cronin from the "Committee on Moral
Concerns."  Sheldon, Cronin and their entourage appeared
highly disorganized, offering over an hour of testimony
repeatedly interrupted by committee members.

"Easy-in, easy-out pseudo marriages...built on make believe,
semi-commitment...should not be permitted," Art Cronin told
the committee.  He then continued, "these people probably
live the most dangerous lifestyle in America...if you pass
this bill, you're looking for trouble."

Cronin and Assemblyman Tom Connolly (D-Lemon Grove) got
into a debate over the relevance of Cronin's views to senior
citizens, eventually leading Cronin to concede to AB 2810,
if it only applied to seniors.  At that point, a panicked
Sheldon approached the committee chair, asking to speak,
and started his testimony by reading a Zulu proverb.

That was all it took for Assemblywoman Archi-Hudson to take
over the defense from Connolly, shaking her dreadlocks and firing
into Sheldon with her first interrogative, asking "You're not
suggesting that the Zulu people oppose this bill, are you?"

Sheldon never regained his composure.  Against a barrage of
questions from the committee, he repeatedly tried to
return to a prepared speech, slipping in a sentence or two
before being interrupted with another question.  Referring
to "soap opera lifestyles" and "the people who are really
trying to get this bill through," Sheldon never overtly
lashed out against the lesbian and gay community, but his
conservative,biblical pronouncements appeared to fall on
deaf ears.

Sheldon was followed by a few pastors, one of whom threatened
"judgement from above" and another who read from the Bible.
That led Assemblywoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) to question
the relevance of their views to Muslims--and a frustrated
committee chair to call for a vote.

All members of the committee were technically "present,"
allowing them to vote even if they were not actually at
the hearing.  One Democrat and one Republican crossed
party lines, with the Republicans generally absent
from the hearing--and abstaining from the vote.  {ed. note:
word is the GOP were afraid to vote against the seniors}
Final tally was 8-1.

The LIFE AIDS Lobby is sponsoring AB 2810 and has gathered
written endorsements from over 200+ organizations.  At
press time, the bill was scheduled to be heard by
the Assembly Ways and Means committee on May 11. {ed. note:
it has passed out of the Ways and Means committee, I believe.}