Panel OKs Homosexual Rights Bill : Legislature: The measure to ban job and housing discrimination gets the minimum vote required to pass the Senate committee.

SACRAMENTO —  A bill to ban job and housing discrimination against gays and lesbians won narrow approval in a Senate committee Monday after one member who said there was “no need” for the bill cast the deciding vote for the measure.

A 7-4 vote, the minimum required for approval, sent the Assembly-approved measure by Assemblyman Terry Friedman (D-Los Angeles) to the Senate floor, where the sponsor said he has lined up more than the 21 votes required for passage.

The bill would add sexual orientation to the list of categories protected by the state Fair Employment and Housing Act. The act already prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical handicap, medical condition, marital status, sex or age.

Proponents argue that gays and lesbians should have the same protection as others. They cite cases of longtime employees with excellent performance records and repeated promotions who lost their jobs after their sexual orientation became known.

Some opponents have contended that sexual orientation is a matter of choice and thus should not be protected under anti-discrimination laws. Others say passage of the bill would lead to increased numbers of AIDS cases and would hurt small-business owners who would have to fight discrimination complaints in the courts.

Sen. Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose) provided the key seventh vote in the committee Monday after telling Friedman he did not appreciate receiving correspondence from Queer Nation, a homosexual activist group, that contained “lies, insults and threats” that made it “almost impossible” for him to vote for the bill. He did not disclose the letter’s exact contents.

Friedman replied, “I disavow and repudiate any attack on any member of this Legislature for any position taken on any bill.”

In his opening remarks, the Los Angeles lawmaker said, “This bill is about fundamental fairness. No more and no less. A homosexual should have the opportunity to have and keep a job based on qualifications and job performance just like everyone else.”

Gov. Pete Wilson has indicated that he might sign the bill, known as the homosexual bill of rights, unlike former Gov. George Deukmejian, who vetoed similar legislation in 1984. Friedman said he hoped to meet with Wilson soon to discuss his measure.

One opponent of the bill, the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, vowed that if the law passes, he will seek its repeal with a voter referendum on next June’s primary election ballot.

Sheldon, speaking to a reporter, also accused Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) of “putting pressure” on Alquist to vote for the bill, saying, “Roberti wants this bill. He can’t afford for it not to pass. He represents a major homosexual area in Hollywood.”

A spokesman for the Senate leader, press secretary Bob Forsysth, said Roberti “certainly talked to Alquist. There’s no question about that. He worked the committee. And he will carry the bill on the floor.”

Proponents include the Lobby for Individual Freedom and Equality, the California Council of Churches, the AFL-CIO Labor Federation and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Another Senate committee member, Sen Ed. Davis (R-Santa Clarita), who voted in favor of the 1984 homosexual bill of rights measure, changed his vote to no on Monday. Davis told Friedman he did so because the assemblyman’s forces had succeeded in killing one of his bills to make rape suspects subject to mandatory AIDS testing. Voters later passed such a measure.

“In politics, what goes around comes around,” he said. “Since you opposed my bills, I can’t vote for your bill this time around.”

At the same time, however, Davis criticized the opposition to the Friedman bill, calling some of them “very obnoxious” and adding he “hated very much to be on their side.”

The bill would not apply to religious institutions, businesses with fewer than five employees or single rooms rented in owner-occupied homes.