This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 2006. Events January 1 Serbia equalizes age of consent for homosexual acts to 14, matching the legal age for heterosexual acts. In the U.S. state of Illinois, a new state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation goes into effect. In the U.S. state of Washington, a new mayor of Spokane is sworn in to succeed James E. West, who was recalled after a political scandal involving him using his office computer to access gay websites. 24 – Republic of Ireland – Report of Oireachtas committee recommending civil unions is launched by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. 25 – The Ocean County, New Jersey freeholders vote to allow county police and fire department employees to designate someone other than a spouse as a pension beneficiary. The move comes after the case of Laurel Hester, a police officer with the Ocean County prosecutor's office with terminal cancer, came to national attention when the freeholders refuse repeatedly to change the spouses-only rule. 26 – In the Czech Republic, registered partnership legislation is approved by the Senate 65–14. 27 – In the U.S. state of Washington, legislators pass a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (which is legally defined to include gender identity). It passes with a 25–23 vote in the state senate and by a 61–37 vote in the House of Representatives. State governor Christine Gregoire says she will sign the bill into law on January 31. March 8 – The city council of Washington, D.C., bans gender identity discrimination in the private sector. 15 – The Czech Republic’s Chamber of Deputies overrides president Václav Klaus's veto of the registered partnerships bill. April 11 – Ernie Fletcher, governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky, rescinds a 2003 executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the public sector. May 27 – An attempt to stage the first-ever gay pride march in Moscow ends with violence and mass arrests, after activists took to the streets despite the ban by mayor Yuri Luzhkov. June 5 – United States President George W. Bush renews his call for passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment. 7 The Federal Marriage Amendment fails to pass the U.S. Senate. Of the 60 votes required to invoke the cloture motion, 49 senators voted to put