By RUSSELL GARLAND
Journal-Bulletin State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE Q A revised bill protecting homosexuals against
discrimination won Senate Finance Committee approval yesterday,
and jubilant supporters said they were confident it would become law.

   By a 10 - to - 7 vote,the committee approved the measure after
removing provisions concerning public accommodations and modifying
the housing section to exclude owner-occupied dwellings of three
units or less.

The bill, which goes to the full Senate, would prohibit discrimination
against gays in the areas of credit,employment and housing.

   On April 30, the House narrowly approved a similar bill, but
with the public accommodations and housing sections intact.
The Finance Committee, however, chose not to act on that measure.

   Instead, it took up the bill introduced by Sen. Rhoda E. Perry,
D-Providence. Because the deadline for the committee to consider
senate bills had passed,the approval of Senate Majority Leader
John J. Bevilacqa, D-Providence, was necessary.

   ''A lot of compromise and balancing has already taken place,''
Perry said of the revisions, which she said were made after
discussions with committee members and Senate leaders.

   If the Senate, as expected, approves the bill, the issue will go
back to the House with only a handful of legislative days left until
the expected end of the session.

   ''I think they're very good,'' Rep. Linda J. Kushner, D-Providence,
sponsor of the House gay-rights bill, said of chances that the
House will approve the Senate bill. She said the modification to
the housing section would make it easier for some representatives
to support the bill.

   Opponents and supporters of the bill crowded into the committee
room yesterday for the vote.

   The approval margin was wider than expected because
Sen. Eleanor C. Sasso, D-Cranston, voted for the bill.
Sasso said she had intended to vote against it, believing
that the Constitution protects everyone against discrimination.
But she said she changed her mind after hearing a radio report
that a woman with an exemplary record had been dismissed from
the military because she is a lesbian.

   (In Seattle Thursday, National Guard Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer,
a decorated Vietnam veteran, was informed she would be honorably
discharged next week for that reason. She disclosed she was gay
three years ago, in an interview for a security clearance.)

   Sen. Joseph J. McGair, D-Warwick, said he opposed the bill because
it is hard to enforce a civil rights standard when distinguishing
between homosexuals and heterosexuals is difficult.

   Supporters of the bill have been trying for years to get it enacted
but have never been able to get it passed by both houses in the same
year. Perry said she had hoped the Senate would approve the House bill
but decided that was not possible based on discussions with her
colleagues.

   Voting for the bill,besides Perry and Sasso, were Sandra K. Hanaway,
D-Cumberland; Thomas J. Izzo, D-Cranston; Robert T. Kells,
D-Providence; J. Michael Lenihan, D-East Greenwich;
John C. Revens Jr.,D-Warwick; Charles D. Walton, D-Providence;
June N. Gibbs; R-Middletown; and James S. D'Ambra,D-Providence.

   Voting against, besides McGair, were Helen M. Mathieu, D-Portsmouth;
Dominick J. Ruggerio, D- Providence; Richard M. Alegria, D-Bristol;
Stephen D. Alves, D-West Warwick; Jennie D. Day, D-Coventry; and Albert
J. Russo, R-Hopkinton.



(and that's all for now, folks. We don't have any information
yet on when the thing will get voted on on the Senate floor.
After that we have to get it considered by the House once more,
before the General Assembly closes up shop for the year.)


don't forget:
                    P R A Y
                                                              jdL