Congressman Votes Against Coronavirus Bill Because It Includes Sick Leave for Same Sex Partners

A Republican lawmaker said he voted against a coronavirus bill because it included paid sick leave benefits for same-sex partners.

During a recent radio program produced by the conservative Christian group, Family Research Council, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs admitted he was one of 40 Republicans who vetoed the legislation which would provide paid medical leave, free COVID–19 testing and increased unemployment insurance to battle the effects of the global pandemic.

"They've redefined family for the first time in a piece of federal legislation to include committed relationships," the lawmaker detailed on the show. "The problem with that, of course, is it's really hard to define a committed relationship and it's really hard to define anything related to that."

"So they've tried to -- they've put in, in my opinion -- sort of an amorphous definition. But that leaves it wide open and then they expand it, expand on that."

In the paid leave section of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the bill defined children eligible for help as a "biological, foster, or adopted child, a stepchild, a child of a domestic partner." The bill then defined domestic partners as anyone over the age of 18 in a "committed relationship," including couples in same-sex domestic partnerships.

In the past, Biggs has said that gay marriage "is an affront to the millions of Americans who believe marriage is between a man and a woman," according to Vice.

Biggs also claimed the coronavirus bill was attempting to fund abortions.

"Two provisions that have nothing to do with the coronavirus are basically thrown into this thing," Biggs said on the Family Research Council radio show. "And that's just par for the course for the left, the activist left."

The claim was proven false by various outlets, including Politico.

Fun fact: The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the Family Research Council as a hate group because of its anti-LGBTQ position.

The House of Representatives ultimately passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.