Colombia: Lack of quorum sinks same-sex partnership bill

A quote from an article in today's issue of El Tiempo listing several bills that failed to receive a vote by the end of the Colombian House of Representatives' 2006 legislative session:

"Rights for gays: It was in the order of the day until the last moment in the legislature, and when there was attempt to vote... quorum disintegrated."

So the bill was actually brought to the floor for a vote but some cowardly legislators jumped up and left their seats. Incredibly disappointing if not necessarily surprising.

Persons of the Year?: In the meantime, Semana magazine is asking online readers to vote for who they consider to be the "Person of the Year" and has listed "The Gay Collective" as one of the top 40 candidates for the honor and single out the role of LGBT organizations such as Colombia Diversa, Apoyemonos, Triangulo Negro, Sentimos Diverso, Polo de Rosa, Degeneres-e, Mujeres al Borde and others for the important work they have done this year. If you would like to cast a vote for the Gay Collective as Semana's Person of the Year, go here, click on the woman with the purple wig and cast your vote by clicking on the "VOTE" button. It allows you to vote once a day, even if you have voted before, so I'm unsure how they are tabulating the numbers.