By a surprisingly bipartisan vote of 224–200, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed an amendment banning the use of federal funds to support Washington, D.C.’s local domestic-partner registry.
The White House warned Wednesday that President Bush would veto this year’s routine appropriations bill for the District of Columbia if it did not include such an amendment, a response to the district’s strengthening of its same-sex partner benefits last year.
Officials said the vote will have little practical effect because the city uses local funds for the partner registry, The Washington Post reported.
But gay activists deplored the move, with Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese calling the veto threat “a new low” in “antigay zeal.”
The district, though it gets most of its revenue from local taxes, also receives federal funding through Congress, making it more vulnerable than other cities to shifts in the national political winds.
