"By 365gayNewscenterStaff01.23.200911:21amEST(Tampa, Florida)A proposalthat could have led to health benefits for the domestic partners of Hillsborough County employees has been flatly rejected. Send/ShareAdd CommentOpenly gaycommissioner Kevin Beckner proposed a motion calling for a study into the feasibility of the benefits. Beckner,who was elected in November,said he proposed the idea now because the county is in the process of taking bids for employee health insurance.That process happens only once every four years.Beckner is the first openly gay politician to win office in the conservative county;during the campaign pledged he would not use the office to advocate for LGBT issues.When he proposed the benefits plan, some in his district accused him of breaking that pledge. In 2005,Hillsborough County made national headlines when commissioners passed an ordinance barring the county government from any acknowledgment of Gay Pride, and a second ordinance making it virtually impossible to repeal the first one.While LGBT pride observances were not banned in the county, the ordinances blocked the government from any involvement, support or promotion. Beckner’s benefits proposal would have covered same-sex couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples.It was defeated on a 5-2 vote.Before the vote,Beckner told commissioners that he hoped acceptance of the plan would show that the county had become more inclusive.“By making this small policy change”,he said,“we will send a message to the world that we are evolving into a more inclusive community,”he said. But Commissioner Jim Norman accused Beckner of trying to blur the distinction between marriage and gay unions.“I believe that family benefits should be between a husband and wife,”Norman said.“You draw the line somewhere and that’s where I draw the line.”One commissioner said the proposal would be economically crippling.“We’re simply not in a financial position to increase benefits at this time,” said Commissioner Ken Hagan."