Tag Archives: domestic partners

El Paso Restores Partner Benefits

Last year a too-broadly worded anti-gay ballot referendum not only rescinded domestic partner benefits for El Paso city employees, it ended insurance benefits for some retired cops and firefighters. Yesterday the city council reversed the ballot measure. After hearing spirited arguments from members of the public on both sides of the issue, the council split 4-4. Mayor John Cook, who …

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TEXAS: Federal Judge Upholds El Paso’s Ban On Domestic Partner Benefits

In November 2010, El Paso’s Pastor Tom Brown organized a ballot referendum banning the city from offering domestic partners benefits. Only after the measure passed did the city realize that it was so broadly written, it would also ban benefits for retired cops and firefighters. Nevertheless, yesterday a federal judge upheld the ban. The ordinance forcing the city of El …

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FLORIDA: Orange County Commission Approves Domestic Partners Benefits

Orange County, Florida commissioners have unanimously approved extending benefits to the partners of gay county employees. Via Watermark: In their pre-vote comments, many commissioners took the time to recognize Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who led the effort in 2008 to extend benefits to same sex domestic partners of city employees, and former Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart, who crusaded …

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Facebook Adds Civil Unions & Domestic Partnerships To Relationship Status

Facebook users in America, Canada, Australia, Britain and several other countries now have two more options when announcing their relationship status: civil unions and domestic partnerships. The changes were made in consultation with Facebook’s Network of Support, a group that includes LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Gay, Lesbian, and …

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Arizona Moves To Ban Gay Partner Benefits

Last year Arizona’s legislature voted to stop offering insurance to the gay partners of state employees. Purely to save money, don’t you know. That move was blocked by a judge thanks to a lawsuit from Lambda Legal, but now the state has filed a federal appeal of his ruling. Assistant Attorney General Charles Grube contends U.S. District Judge John Sedwick …

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Facebook To Reimburse Gay Staffers For Partner Benefit Tax Inequities

Facebook is joining the small but growing list of companies who are reimbursing their gay employees for the tax inequities incurred by carrying their partners on their insurance. The new policies follow similar announcements by Barclays, and also this year, Google. A handful of other large organizations, including Cisco, Kimpton Hotels and the Gates Foundation also cover these costs. Under …

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MONTANA: State Sued By ACLU On Behalf Of Seven Gay Couples

Today the ACLU filed suit against the state of Montana on behalf of seven same-sex couples in a move to legalize domestic partnerships. Via press release: The goal of this lawsuit is ensure that same-sex couples are able to protect their families with the same kind of legal protections that opposite-sex couples are offered through marriage. Because there is a …

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IRS Recognizes Community Property Law For California’s Gay Couples

In a major reversal, the Internal Revenue Service has recognized California’s community property law for registered domestic partners. The decision, which was issued in a private-letter ruling on Friday, reverses a position the IRS took in 2006, when it said California’s registered domestic partners should each report on their own federal tax return only the income they personally earned, not …

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Partners Of Federal Employees Can Apply For (Some) Benefits Next Month

Yesterday the Office of Personnel Management announced that same-sex partners of federal employees can begin applying for long-term care insurance next month. President Obama signed a memo last June extending some benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers, including access to the government’s Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. On Tuesday, OPM essentially broadened the definition of relatives eligible for …

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ExxonMobil Votes Down Partner Benefits

Once again, ExxonMobil’s shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to exclude LGBT employees from its partner benefits program. The Dallas Voice reports: Only 22 percent of ExxonMobil shareholders voted in favor of adding the protections during today’s annual meeting at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. Last year 40 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal. About two dozen …

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Barbara Boxer Introduces Bill To Grant COBRA Benefits To Gay Partners

On Friday Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced the Equal Access to COBRA Act, which would allow same-sex partners access to COBRA benefits if their partner loses their job. The law would apply to companies that already offer health coverage to domestic partners and their children. Currently, more than half of Fortune 500 companies cover domestic partners under their health plans. …

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New York Senate Approves Partner Healthcare Bill

Seventeen years after its approval by the state Assembly, the New York Senate has finally approved the Family Health Care Decisions Act. Domestic partners will now have priority over biological family members when it comes to the medical needs of an incapacitated partner. Via press release from the Empire State Pride Agenda (my bolding): New York has been one of …

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SCOTUS To Hear R-71 Case In April

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted a hearing of Washington state’s Referendum 71 petition signatures case on its April 28th docket. Via Dominic Holden at Slog: According to a docket published today, the court will examine whether “the First Amendment right to privacy in political speech, association, and belief requires strict scrutiny when a state compels public release of identifying …

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Domestic Partners Bill Dies In New Mexico

Thanks to enormous pressure from the Christian right and despite the support of Gov. Richardson, New Mexico’s domestic partners bill is dead for 2010. With a 7-4 vote the Senate Finance Committee tabled one of the most-watched bills of the 2010 regular session. For nearly three weeks, strong opinions have swirled around domestic partnerships legislation, but supporters vow that it …

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Washington State May Recognize Marriages From Out Of State

Interesting news from Washington state via Slog: On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions (e.g., Massachusetts and Iowa) as equivalent to Washington’s state-registered domestic partnerships. The bill has been moved on to the Rules Committee, which will decide whether to forward the bill to the state house floor. Speaking with …

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SCOTUS To Hear R-71 Petition Names Disclosure Case

Yet another omen. Considering the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that Prop 8 opponents are rightfully terrified of violent homofascists, it doesn’t bode well that they’ve agreed to hear the appeal of the decision to release the names on Washington state’s anti-gay R-71 petition. The justices said Friday they’ll consider an appeal of a lower court’s ruling that the names …

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Benefits Bill For Partners Of Federal Employees Headed To Full Senate Vote

Yesterday the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee approved a bill authorizing benefits for the partners of federal employees. The bill will now go to the full Senate. The benefits would include: health care, retirement and disability plans, family, medical and emergency leave, group life insurance, long-term care insurance and access to worker’s comp. Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) …

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North Carolina Politician Mocks AIDS Death Of Colleague’s Son

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Commissioner Bill James is under fire for mocking the AIDS death of a fellow commissioner’s son during a debate on adding same-sex partner benefits. Toward the end of an emotional, two-hour debate on the topic, James leaned over to commissioner Vilma Leake and asked: “Your son was a homo, really?” Leake responded: “You’re going to make …

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Where The Gay Couples Are

Via the Economist: In 2008 Maine had the second highest concentration of gay households, with over eight in every 1,000 households said to be headed by partners of the same sex, according to research based on census data by the Williams Institute, a gay rights think-tank at UCLA. Those states where gay marriage is legal or where same-sex partnerships are …

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Photo Of The Day

Yesterday Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire signed the official certification enacting Washington’s “everything but marriage” law. The law is in effect as of today after being put on hold during the bigoted Referendum 71 fight. Domestic partners in Washington now have all the rights, benefits, and privileges of marriage couples. One of the best wins for the good guys in …

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