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NEWS
Domestic Partnership News Update
Issues affecting the rights of lesbian and gay couples continue to attract attention and positive
response in a number of cities around the country:
•In Minneapolis—The daily Star Tribune has announced that its traditional weddings and
engagements section will be renamed as "Celebrations" pages and will contain announcements
of same sex couples who choose to register their partnerships under the city's recently adopted
domestic partnership ordinance. The Star Tribune is the first major metro daily to agree to pub
lish such announcements; The Everett, Wash. Herald and the Marin Independent Journal began
publishing announcements of same sex couplings late last year. Two lesbian couples were the
first to have their relationships announced in the Tribune's new section. A representative of the
paper told the New York Times that there had been no public outcry against the change.
•In West Palm Beach—This city's Employment Practices Review Committee has sent a
report to the City Commission recommending that the city recognize domestic partners of city
employees. The report calls for domestic partners to be included in the definition of family for
all employee benefit purposes including bereavement leave and health insurance. The same
report also calls for the city to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination clause, according
to The Weekly News. Action on both measures is expected by the end of April.
•In Seattle—AAA Washington has settled a complaint brought by two gay men by extend
ing its requirements for "associate" membership to include domestic partners and other residents
of a "primary" member's household. Steve Bryant and his partner of 10 years, Demain, who pub
lish "Partners Newsletter," had first applied for a joint AAA membership in March 1988. The
Seattle Human Rights Department was responsible for the settlement under a local law which
prohibits marital status discrimination in public accommodations. AAA, however, said that the
new policy would be in effect throughout much of western and central Washington.
•In New York City—Montefiore Medical Center has become the largest private employer in
the nation to offer the same health benefits to its gay employees and their partners as it does to
married heterosexual employees and their spouses. Unlike many benefits offered under the broad
rubric of "domestic partnership," Montefiore's new policy would appear to apply only to gays
and lesbians. A hospital spokesperson told the New York Times that the change would apply to
employees "who are unable, by law, to marry because of laws prohibiting marriage of persons of
the same sex." The Bronx Hospital has 9000 employees. The spokesperson said that the expect
ed financial impact of the change was not expected to be significant.
•In Washington, DC—City Council Chair John Wilson has introduced precedent setting leg
islation which would provide a number of benefits—including tax incentives for private employ
ers who provide health insurance for domestic partners—to unmarried domestic partners. Most
council members and Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon are said to support the bill. Opponents say that
conservative members of Congress (which must approve all D.C. legislation) will fight the mea
sure if it is passed.
•In Columbus, Ohio—An state appellate court has ruled that Ohio's domestic violence law
must be interpreted to include lesbian and gay domestic partnerships. The case being appealed
involved a lesbian who was originally denied protection under the law because her "spouse" was
a woman. The appellate court found the the trial judge's finding "restrictive" adding that "living
as a spouse" did not "in and of itself exclude two persons of the same sex."
20,000 + Texas Gays March on State Capitol; For the second time in three years more
than 20,000 lesbians and gay men have marched on the Lone Star State's capitol. Highpoint of
the weekend of activities surrounding the march was a speech by newly elected, openly gay
member of the Texas Legislature, Glen Maxey (D-Austin). Maxey, 42 and an ex-schoolteacher,
has previously served as a lobbyist and executive director of Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of
Texas. According to the Dallas Voice, Maxey described himself as "a gay man who just got
damn tired of playing a waiting game." The newly elected legislator drew wild cheers when he
added, "I hope we can begin to unlock them [the doors of state government]. But, by God, if
they still don't open, we're gonna kick them in." Annual or biannual marches on state capitols are
one of a number of strategies being explored by activists planning the next March on
Washington (see page 1.)
Colleges Vote to Boot ROTC...: The College Council of the John Jay College of Criminal
Justice in NYC has voted, 12-7, to remove Reserve Officers Training Corps units from its cam
pus. The University of Minnesota Senate has also voted to remove ROTC units from its campus
unless the military ceases its discrimination against gays and lesbians. The student/faculty group
voted 151-12 in favor of a resolution which would require the school to sever ties with its ROTC
units if no settlement has been reached by June, 1993.
...And Legislation Introduced to Deny Funds to Schools That Do: Rep. Gerald
Solomon (R-NY) has introduced a bill in the U.S. House that would "deny funds to programs
that do not allow the Secretary of Defense access to students on campuses or to certain student
information for recruiting purposes." Lesbian and gay activists worry that the legislation could
be used to withhold federal funds from colleges that bar ROTC programs and military recruiting
on campus, thus quashing attempts to pressure the Department of Defense to rescind its policy of
excluding lesbians and gay men from the military. The bill, H.R: 1651, has been assigned to the
House Committee on Education, Labor and Armed Services. Activists are urging letters to mem
bers of Congress to either kill or substantially clarify the intent of the legislation.
Notre Dame Censors Gay Ads: The V-P of student affairs at the University of Notre Dame
has put the school's student newspaper and a lesbian/gay group at odds with each other over the
gay group's advertising. Patricia O'Hara told the editor of The Observer that it could lose its free
office space in the Student Center if it continued to run the gay group's ads without certain
changes requested by the school. The paper's editor blasted the administration in an editorial, the
members of Gays and Lesbians at Notre Dame decided they would not contest the censorship
because they did not want to jeopardize the paper's rent-free space.
Chicago Cops Bust Porn Theatre: Chicago's finest have arrested the manager of the Bijou
Theatre and confiscated the film that was being shown, "More of a Man." The manager, Lonnie
Hill, was released on $1000 bond. According to an Outlines News Service story by Rex
Wockner, the film was declared obscene under a 3-part Illinois statute that refers to community
standards. Activists countered that those who pay to enter the Bijou theatre would not likely find
their "community standards" violated by the film which Wockner described as having "a strong
activist consciousness."
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Southern Voice/April 11, 1991