Subject: NEWS:DC Approves Domes.Partnership Bill

 
Via The NY Transfer News Service ~ All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
DC approves domestic partnership bill
 
By Brenda Sandburg Washington, D.C.
 
(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if
source is cited.)
 
The District of Columbia is now the 18th city in the U.S. to
approve a domestic partnership bill that gives unmarried couples
legal recognition. The legislation, unanimously adopted by the
largely Black city council March 3, would allow gay and straight
partners to register with the city as couples. An amendment would
allow unmarried relatives living together to register as domestic
partners.
 
The bill would make all domestic partners of city workers eligible
for group health insurance. City employees would get sick leave or
annual leave to care for an ill partner or family member, as well
as funeral leave. All health care facilities would honor a
patient's partner's visitation rights. The legislation also offers
tax breaks to private employers who provide health insurance for
domestic partners. A few local companies already have such a
policy.
 
According to a list compiled by the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force, the 17 other cities with domestic partnership laws are:
Berkeley, Calif.; West Hollywood, Calif.; Madison, Wis.; Santa
Cruz, Calif.; Seattle; San Francisco; Los Angeles; New York;
Takoma Park, Md.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Laguna Beach, Calif.; Minneapolis;
East Lansing, Mich.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Shorewood Hills, Wis.;
Cambridge, Mass.; and West Palm Beach, Fla.
 
Domestic partner/non-traditional family legislation is pending or
organizing efforts are under way in Boston; Chicago; San Diego;
Atlanta; Wayne County, Mich.; Denver; Rochester, N.Y.; the
Illinois state legislature; and the New York state legislature.
 
The domestic partner laws in most cities cover city employees
only. In the District, both private- and public-sector employees
may register as domestic partners, though the extended health
benefits apply only to District government employees.
 
Congress has last word
 
Since the District is not a state, any legislation passed by the
city council must be approved by Congress. As the city has become
a majority African American, it has also passed more progressive
legislation on many issues, putting it on a collision course with
the rich, white, conservative male-dominated Congress and fueling
sentiment for statehood.
 
If Congress does not oppose the bill within 30 days, it will
automatically become law. However, given Congress's previous
voting record, the bill may be defeated. Several years ago,
Congress tied up funding for the District until it withdrew
legislation that would have prevented insurance companies from
discriminating against people with AIDS.
 
The domestic partnership bill was introduced by John Wilson, who
chairs the Council, on March 26, 1991. Adoption of the legislation
has been a four-year process. Wilson began by introducing a bill
in 1988 to create a commission to study the issue of domestic
partnership. The commission subsequently issued a report in July
1990 supporting the legislation. The bill was originally called
the D.C. Domestic Partnership Act, but during committee markup in
February it was changed to the Healthcare Benefits Expansion Act.
 
Because lesbians and gay men are still barred from legal marriage,
domestic partner laws are a vital avenue to gaining some equal
rights. But faced with ongoing oppression, many lesbian and gay
workers don't apply for the benefits even where they exist so as
not to identify themselves to the boss.
 
During the Council committee hearing last October, a
representative of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance testified
that in other cities, more heterosexual couples register as
domestic partners. For example, he noted that in Berkeley, 85
percent of domestic partnership applicants were heterosexual
couples.
 
Representatives of the D.C. Domestic Partnership Coalition pointed
out that only 11 percent of families in the U.S. consist of
traditional nuclear families.
 
The lesbian/gay movement has pressed most vigorously for these
laws. It shows how whenever one section of the working class is
well organized and combative, it can win gains helpful to the
class as a whole.
 
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