Tampa Area city council vetoes gay partner benefits
(Tampa, Florida) A proposal that could have led to health benefits for the domestic partners of Hillsborough County employees has been flatly rejected.
Openly gay commissioner Kevin Beckner proposed a motion calling for a study into the feasibility of the benefits. Beckner, who was elected in November, said he proposed the idea now because the county is in the process of taking bids for employee health insurance. That process happens only once every four years.
Beckner is the first openly gay politician to win office in the conservative county; during the campaign pledged he would not use the office to advocate for LGBT issues.
When he proposed the benefits plan, some in his district accused him of breaking that pledge.
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The weirdest part of the article:
In 2005, Hillsborough County made national headlines when commissioners passed an ordinance barring the county government from any acknowledgment of Gay Pride, and a second ordinance making it virtually impossible to repeal the first one.
http://www.365gay.com/news/tampa-area-city-council-vetoes-gay-partner-benefits/