By ABC-7 Reporter Martin Bartlett

EL PASO -- City residents may soon get to vote on whether the city should extend benefits to unwed partners of gay and straight employees if a group of local religious leaders have their way.

More than a dozen members of the local religious community made their request in a loud way at Tuesday's City Council meeting. They spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, where as long as you sign up you can talk about almost any subject.

Several local pastors told City Representative Beto O'Rourke that he and the rest of City Council were condoning sin.

"If our government starts passing laws that are against guidelines in the Bible, it starts to contaminate the spiritual water of our people ... What does God say about homosexuality? He says it is an abomination," said Barney Field of El Paso for Jesus.

After the pastors had their say, local activist Lisa Turner spoke up in response to the pastors' comments. "These are the people that are preaching hate. You tell me where in your Bible does it say to preach hate," said Turner. "Forty years ago they were using the same arguments against Black people."

The group made such a big show that they actually stopped Tuesday's meeting. However, because of a loophole in state open meetings rules, Council members were legally barred from responding. This led to several members of Council saying they were willing to stop the meeting and take the debate outside.

Once outside, O'Rourke explained that concerns over what some see as "wasteful" spending by the city were unfounded. He explained that the cost of extending benefits to gay and unwed city employees would only add about $200,000 to a $700 million city budget. "It's a drop in the bucket," said O'Rourke. "Basically, what your concerns amount to is a moral issue."

The District 8 city representative went on to explain why he believed these city employees deserved to be taken care of. "I think it is incredibly unfair to deny people -- who are born gay and have entered committed relationships that have spanned years and who are hard-working city employees -- benefits given their effort to make this a better city," O'Rourke said.

Several protestors said they didn't like that City Council is thinking for them. "You are a representative of the people, but you are voting based on your heart, not on the will of the people," said one protester.

"You made the decision on this controversial issue before an election year. Why didn't you vote on this during an election year?" another protestor asked O'Rourke.

"Why are you afraid to let it go to the people?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," O'Rourke responded.

"Then send it to a vote. Just send it to a vote."

Benefits for unwed gay and straight couples were included in the budget City Council just passed. It is unclear if budgetary matters can go to a popular vote, city officials said.

The city attorney said anybody can submit a petition asking for anything to go on the ballot. Whether it makes it to the voters, though, is a question that gets answered on a case-by-case basis, he said.

After the exchange outside City Hall, O'Rourke and other city representatives agreed to meet with the group to show them the paperwork they need to get the issue on the ballot.

City Council passed the measure last Thursday extending benefits to domestic partners. The vote was 6-1 in favor of the measure, with only Rep. Carl Robinson voting against it.

----------------- ABC-7 Web Producers Annette Arrigucci and Joe Villasana contributed to this story