TALLAHASSEE — It was an eventful week for Florida’s LGBT rights advocates and straight allies, as activists and other stakeholders arrived in Tallahassee for two days of lobbying the state’s lawmakers in support of legislation that would create domestic partnerships for unmarried couples, regardless of their sexual identity. (See full lobbying story in this week’s SUNSHINE STATE.)

On Tuesday, March 12, a new, reworked version of the legislation (SB 196) was scheduled to be read before the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee, chaired by State Sen. Eleanor Sobel (D-Hollywood), the measure’s sponsor. However, Sobel postponed a reading of he legislation for the second time in weeks. The absence of State Sen. Geraldine Thompson (D-Orlando), due to illness, would have cost Sobel one of only four guaranteed “yes” votes on the committee.

The bill would create a statewide domestic partnership registry, permitting registered couples to visit their partners in hospitals, nursing units, prisons, and mental health treatment facilities. It would grant partners the right to be notified in case of an emergency and to serve as their health care proxies, much as a spouse or other next-of-kin. In instances where there is no will after the death of a partner, the surviving partner would have custody of their remains for final need purposes.

Opponents of marriage equality say the measure is a thinly-disguised effort at creating recognition for same-sex relations and bestowing spousal rights upon gay couples and an attempt to circumvent Florida’s 2008 constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex marriage and similar unions.

As we reported last month (Agenda, February 20, 2013: “State Senate Committee Stalls on Domestic Partnership Protection”), Sobel withdrew a more sweeping version of the legislation during the committee’s last session after the votes came up short. The Hollywood Democrat has since limited its parameters in an effort to garner wider support in the 10-member committee, which includes four Democrats and six Republicans.

Last month, State Sen. Nancy Detert (R-Venice) said she would vote against the legislation in committee, but as of Monday, March 11, Demert had apparently been satisfied enough by the new language to add her support, which would bring the vote to an even tie (5-5).

Sobel’s revised bill was written to bring it in line with existing local ordinances that permit domestic partnership registries, including those which apply in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

Opposition to the bill has been strong among religious and social conservatives. On Tuesday, the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) released “An Open Letter to the Florida Senate Children and Families Committee Regarding Domestic Partnerships,” which was addressed to Sobel and the committee members.

It said, “In summary, domestic partnerships are unnecessary, bad public policy, and are dangerous for a number of reasons that may not be immediately obvious.”

The letter said that “Domestic Partnerships are not merely unnecessary, but are affirmatively dangerous because they are used as legal weapons by gay rights activists to advance same-sex marriages.” It noted, “Historically, activist courts, at the urging of gay rights activists, have used domestic partnerships as a legal precedent for overriding traditional marriage laws and legalizing same-sex marriages.”

The letter, which was signed by FFPC President John Stemberger, railed against “homosexual marriages” that “deny children the right to either a mother or a father and are therefore not in the best interest of children. Same-sex marriage laws also force all other statutes in a state to become gender-neutral and impacts children’s educational curriculum and textbooks where homosexuality is promoted as natural and morally acceptable alternative to heterosexual marriage.”

Regardless whether the bill clears the Senate committee, it must pass muster through four more stages in the upper house of the legislature. Meanwhile, the State House version of the measure (HB 259), sponsored by State Rep. Mark Pafford (D-West Palm Beach) has yet to be brought before any relevant lower house committees.

A source close to the legislative process and intimate with the bill’s language told the Agenda that the vote would be “very close,” and the measure would likely either pass by a vote of 6-4, or “die on a [5-5] tie.”

The source, who asked not to be identified, said that support was being sought from two Republicans, State Sen. Thad Altman (R-Melbourne), and State Sen. Miguel de la Portilla (R-Miami). The absence of Thompson from Orlando effectively killed the momentum for approval, at least for the present.

Sobel offered her apologies to those LGBT advocates, including Michael Emanuel Rajner of Wilton Manors, who had come to the state capital to lobby in support of the domestic partnership bill.