by KYW's Tony Romeo
The Pennsylvania Senate has tabled a bill on an amendment to the state constitution that would ban gay marriage.
An anticipated Senate vote on the gay marriage bill was suddenly scuttled when the prime sponsor announced that House leaders signaled that if the bill passed the Senate it would be sent to the House State Government Committee, whose chairwoman, Babette Josephs (D-Pa.), strongly opposes the measure.
But Senator Vincent Fumo (D-Pa.) (right in file photo) said he believed the bill was tabled because the Senate was likely to remove proposed constitutional language that would have banned the “functional equivalent” of gay marriage, not just same-same sex marriage:
“I think there were enough votes to strip that out. And I think that’s what scared them. So they needed an excuse, and the excuse was the House. Which is fine with me, any face-saver they want is good with me.”
Opponents of the bill said the “functional equivalent” language would ban civil unions and potentially jeopardize benefits currently enjoyed by same-sex couples.
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