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Josh Lyman and allies clash with Congressman Matt Skinner and conservative forces over the discriminatory Marriage Recognition Act, pitting moral opposition to 'gay bashing' legislation against pragmatic political inevitability and Skinner's personal r...

Josh Lyman and allies clash with Congressman Matt Skinner and conservative forces over the discriminatory Marriage Recognition Act, pitting moral opposition to 'gay bashing' legislation against pragmatic political inevitability and Skinner's personal revelation as a gay Republican.

6 events in this arc

Events in This Arc

S2E7 · The Portland Trip
Leo's Tense Update on Bartlet Interrupted by Donna's Date Pull

In a late-night phone call bridging Air Force One tensions and D.C. duties, Leo—aboard the plane en route to Portland—reassures Josh that President Bartlet looks fine amid the tanker crisis, …

S2E7 · The Portland Trip
Skinner's Gay Revelation Shocks Josh in Tense Bill Showdown

In a late-night meeting in Josh's office, Congressman Skinner arrives, sharing casual beers and banter about Donna's doomed date, masking the impending clash. Josh laments the rushed timing on the …

S2E7 · The Portland Trip
Bartlet Rejects Marriage Bill as 'Legislative Gay Bashing'

In Leo's office aboard Air Force One at night, Josh presses forward with a constitutional defense of the Marriage Recognition Act, but President Bartlet abruptly shuts him down, declaring it …

S3E14 · Hartsfield's Landing
Josh Dispatches Reluctant Donna to Reclaim Flender Votes

In a tense late-night summons, Josh reveals Jennifer Flender's email confirming her parents' defection to Ritchie in the prophetic Hartsfield's Landing primary. Amid Donna's sharp jealousy over Josh's flirtation and …

S3E14 · Hartsfield's Landing
Josh Interrupts: Let the Flenders Vote Freely

Outside the White House gates at night, Donna passionately defends Bartlet to Roberta Flender on the phone, frustrated by their sense of betrayal over unkept promises despite his censure and …

S3E14 · Hartsfield's Landing
Hartsfield's Landing: Pure Democracy's Midnight Triumph

As Bartlet exits the bullpen amid bustling staffers, televisions broadcast the climactic Hartsfield's Landing primary at 12:01am. A reporter extols the town's humble democratic cradle for the superpower. The registrar—school …