Opponents say it would be a move toward legalizing gay marriage
SALT LAKE CITY — A Senate committee has defeated the first of a package of bills to give basic civil rights to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Utahns.
The bill sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, would have amended state law to allow anyone in certain types of dependent relationships, including same-sex couples, to sue for wrongful death damages.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted down the bill Tuesday, Jan. 27, with McCoy and Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, supporting it.
The senators who voted against the bill said they were concerned that approving it would be a move toward legalizing gay marriage, which was banned in a constitutional amendment in 2004.
McCoy says opponents were trying to link the bill to marriage, but that it was specific in not being about that issue.
Information from: Deseret News, https://www.deseretnews.com