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Senate Bill 1965 was born on February 1, 2010 in the Oklahoma State Senate to Senator Harry Coates.  It passed from this life around April 4, 2010 in the House Judiciary Committee with numerous family members by its side.

The Oklahoma State Senate in session. (Photo by Becky J. McCray/Flickr, used under Creative Commons 2.0)

Senate Bill “SB” 1965 entered the world as an Open Meetings and Records Act, filled with hope for providing transparency in government and the freeing of information.  Showing great potential, “SB” was quickly enrolled in the Senate Education Committee where it excelled in athletics, maturing into an “An Act relating to schools; creating the Task Force on the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.”  With a bright future before it, SB 1965 graduated, eagerly looking forward to life after education.

However, this new life proved difficult for SB 1965.  Shortly after graduation, it entered into a period of turmoil where it questioned its identity and future.  “SB” was taken in by Senator Steve Russell, a quixotic former military commander who longed to joust the menacing windmills of Federal hate crimes legislation.  With his own child, Senate Bill 2165, dying an agonizing death in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Russell convinced SB 1965 to give up its promising athletic career and join his dubious quest to protect freedom of religion and speech for privileged, straight, peoples.  Looking more and more like Russell’s now deceased bill, SB 1965 emerged from its midlife crisis set on perpetuating injustice in Oklahoma.*

Yet it was in this new chapter of life in the Oklahoma House of Representatives that Senate Bill 1965 finally found redemption.  Coming under the tutelage of Representative Mike Shelton, SB 1965 acknowledged its misspent youth and retired to the obscurity of the Judiciary Committee, where it remained until death on or about the 4^th of April.  Senate Bill 1965 was preceded in death by his adoptive brother, Senate Bill 2165.  It is survived by a host of other Senate Bills that legitimately serve the good of the people of Oklahoma.

No memorial services are planned.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Equality Network.

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* The original bill was modified on the Senate Floor by a substitute bill offered by Senator Russell and voted do pass by a count of 39 ayes and 6 nos.  I stand in admiration of the courage of six senators who voted against this unjust bill: Tom Adelson, Johnnie Crutchfield, Richard Lerblance, Andrew Rice, John Sparks, and Jim Wilson.

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Related Posts:

• SB 1965: Destroying Dialogue, Destroying Lives  |  Xenia Institute
• Hate Crimes in Oklahoma: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell  |  Xenia Institute

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