EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso City Council voted 7 to 1 Tuesday to extend city employee health benefits to their domestic partners, including homosexual couples.

A huge crowd attended the City Council meeting and 42 of them signed up to speak. Debates on both sides of the issue got heated. One man in opposition said, "You can Google it, the health risks of gay sex." He also motioned to his City Council Representative Steve Ortega, to have the floor for 12 minutes to explain. The motion was denied.

Another woman and her husband who support the measure said, "I simply came here today to ask you to consider all of us as equals."

Each person had just one minute to speak about the issue. Some came with pictures of Jesus on their T-shirts and their Bible in hand. Speakers included heterosexual couples who were in support of the measure, along with pastors and other clergymen and women.

Salvador Gomez said, "It smells bad, because it's not good. It's shacking up," he told city council because it's not good.

Pastor Tom Brown, of Word of Life Church, also attended the meeting but he wasn't optimistic about the outcome going in his favor.

"I have a feeling today that city council wants to give a huge black eye to democracy," Brown told the council.

To keep order, City Council Representative Susie Byrd stopped the meeting to say same-sex couples should not be associated with pedophiles. The disclaimer came after Byrd found some remarks to be offensive.

"It just didn't make sense and I thought it was a very unfair analogy," she said.

The city came to an agreement after hearing more than 40 minutes of opinion. City Council Representative Carl Robinson was the only member to vote against the measure he said the city can't afford it.

"This is not an immorality issue. This is, I was born gay," said James Coulter.

Others said the vote was just political.

"My opinion, they should all be thrown out," said Carole Cassidy. She said she believes the council voted for it to get re-elected.

The city estimates that the extended benefits may cost up to $390,000.

City Council Representative Carl Robinson is the only council member that voted against the measure.

“From an economic standpoint, it’s not the time to do it,” Robinson said. “We have a $14 million deficit in the budget”

Robinson said people insulted him since he voted against the plan.

“I’ve been called names. I’ve been called bigot. I’m not moved. I will not be moved, because I know at the end of the day someone is standing with me,” he said at the meeting.