The bill is named in his honor. It was pushed to final passage in the Senate by hate, the defacing of Dallas' most politically potent church. The last hurdle to becoming law is the governor. We haven't finished looking at it, analyzing it as we do all pieces of legislation. When President Bush was governor, he objected to the bill saying it creates a special class of citizens.
Conservatives claim it gives gays a precedent for seeking other legal protections.
But supporters say the Byrd Bill is a narrowly defined criminal provision. And it shouldn't be tolerated. I think those other arguments have been intended just to cloud the issue. They did not work. I haven't convinced him to sign it.