First off, we all make mistakes and we've all exercised poor judgement at times. That's life, some learn from their mistakes and some don't. That's just how it is. I don't hold what you did against you but will say you should have exercised better judgement. If you wanted to know what the boys over there thought, why not do a search for the bill on the internet, find a version of it on a government site then use that link to start the discussion. Nobody on either side would have had any problems with it that way and you most likely would've gotten the same comments and thoughts on it. When it comes to working law enforcement you have to do much of the same thing, it's called protecting your sources.
Now for the other thing. If you are upset because you think some here at the org don't like you, you better stay out of law enforcement. If you want people to like you I would recommend being a firefighter. Fact is people hate cops just because they are cops, doesn't matter if you are good and fair, they judge you by that one azzhat they dealt with 10 years earlier. It doesn't matter if they were doing wrong and it's your job to call them on it, it's still your fault because you caught them at it. The point I'm trying to make here is you are gonna need much thicker skin to survive as a LEO. You can't do the job without stepping on some toes from time to time and when you do, chances are that person isn't going to want to be best friends and thank you for taking him to jail.
Sorry if I'm a bit blunt and to the point but that's the nature of the job. I'm not upset with you in any way so don't take it as such.