What normally is a legislative slam-dunk – a resolution honoring dads for Father’s Day – turned into a debate on “alternative lifestyles” in the California state Assembly.
According to a report in the Stockton Record, Republicans this week either withheld their support or voted against the resolution because it focused on “nontraditional” dads, including families with two fathers.
“It didn’t belong on the floor,” said GOP Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi. “It was a homosexual bill in the sense that they wanted to make a point out of two fathers” in a single household.
The resolution, sponsored by lesbian Democratic Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, mentions stepfathers, foster fathers, single fathers and families headed by two fathers, the paper reports. However, it fails to cite traditional fathers who are married to the mother of their children.
Republican Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, as a traditional father, noticed he wasn’t represented in the proposal.
” Where is the (part) talking about a husband and a wife who have kids?” he said, according to the Record. “I mean, where is the love?”
“The tenure of this Democratic caucus, they go out of their way to make sure every single special-interest group gets their 15 minutes of fame while at the same time thumbing their nose at traditional, hard-working families,” Peter DeMarco, a spokesman for the Assembly Republicans, told the paper. “That’s the agenda of this (Democratic) caucus.”
Kehoe defended her bill.
“If I had known they wanted the word ‘traditional,’ I would have put it in,” she said. “My father and mother were married for almost 50 years. I come from a very traditional family, and my main hope in offering this resolution is to honor my father.”
Some criticized lawmakers for bickering over a Father’s Day resolution when the Legislature faces a deadline of midnight tomorrow night to adopt a state budget – one sporting a conspicuous $38 billion deficit.
