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OH: Cuyahoga County Extends Benefits to Employees’ Same Sex Partners

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Ohio’s largest county has approved a bill to “expand health care benefit access for gay county employees to include their partners’ children,” the Associated Press reports. The Cuyahoga County Council voted 6-4 yesterday in favor of the benefit, which is limited only to same-sex couples and their children.

“This is the first step to be more inclusive,” Council Vice President Sunny Simon, who introduced the legislation, said afterward. “[Opposite-sex couples] have a choice to get married. This particular group has no choice.”

Full Story from Think Progress

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Tags: benefits, cuyahoga county, gay employees, ohio, partners

Benefits of Hawaii’s New Civil Unions Law

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

On January 1st, Hawaii joined a growing list of states that give legal recognition to gay couples. Whether they are called same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships or – as in Hawaii, civil unions – they all extend some of the benefits of marriage to persons of the same gender.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Washington DC, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York.

Five states recognize same-sex civil unions: Hawaii, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Other states allow same-sex couples to enter into a domestic partnership (California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington).

Full Story from Maui Now

Click here for gay wedding resources in Hawaii.

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Tags: benefits, civil unions, hawaii

NY: With Marriage Equality a Reality, School District Cuts Benefits for Domestic Partners

Friday, December 30th, 2011

For years, the City School District has granted benefits to partners of employees in domestic partnerships, allowing them to participate in health plans even when the state banned same-sex couples from marrying.

But now, with the passage of the law legalizing same-sex marriage in New York state, some of those partners will lose those health plans and other benefits.

After the Marriage Equality Act went into effect in July, the district decided to stop offering domestic partnership benefits at the end of the calendar year.

Full Story from the Democrat and Chronicle

Click here for gay wedding resources in New York.

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Tags: benefits, domestic partner, marriage equality, new york, rochester, school district

US: Bill Reintroduced to Provide Domestic Partner Benefits to Federal Employees

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Today, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2011, a bill that would provide Federal benefits to same sex domestic partners of Federal employees.

Under the measure, same-sex domestic partners of federal employees living together in a committed relationship “would be eligible for health benefits, long-term care, Family and Medical Leave, and federal retirement benefits, among others.”

The Act would help the more than 30,000 employees with same-sex partners, allow the Federal government to compete with the many private companies that already offer benefits, and increase costs by “only 0.4 percent of total health care expenditures, a tiny fraction that is consistent with the experience of thousands of private employers,” one study found.

Full Story from Think Progress

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Tags: benefits, bill, domestic partners, federal employees, united states

MI: Senate Committee Approves Elimination of Health Benefits for Gay Partners

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

A Michigan state Senate committee on Wednesday approved a pair of bills that would eliminate eliminate health care benefits for unmarried partners of public employees across the state.

House Bills 4770 and 4771, approved by the Committee on Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing, would also prohibit any government entity in the state from providing such benefits, and prohibit unions from including them in collective bargaining agreements.

Emily Dievendorf, Director of Policy for Equality Michigan, released this statement: “Republican lawmakers continue to attack hardworking gay and transgender people rather than focusing on real issues. They are ignoring best practices in business and promoting a hostile environment for gay and lesbian couples. We hope that voters questions where lawmakers’ real priorities are.”

Full Story from LQBTQ Nation

Click here for gay wedding resources in Michigan.

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Tags: benefits, gay partners, michigan, senate

NC: Crucial Omission in Marriage Equality Ban Language May Outlaw Domestic Partner Benefits, Too

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

What voters will see on the ballot about a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions is not what some lawmakers thought. Amendment 1 on the May primary ballot asks voters to decide for or against a constitutional amendment “to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

The bill’s second sentence, which clarifies that the ban doesn’t prohibit businesses from offering benefits to domestic partners, isn’t included on the ballot. State Rep. Rick Glazier, a leading House Democrat, said he didn’t notice the difference, and neither did his colleagues, until days after the legislature approved the marriage referendum.

“That sentence was crucial in some legislators’ minds about why they were willing to vote for it (and) pretty crucial to the business community,” said Glazier, who represents Fayetteville. “To say you can have half of this constitutional amendment with half of it gone … makes no sense whatsoever.”

Full Story from the Charlotte Observer

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Tags: ban, benefits, Gay Marriage, north carolina

Lesbian’s Parents Sue to Prevent Daughter’s Wife From Receiving Benefits

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Represented by the anti-gay Thomas More Society, the parents of a recently deceased Philadelphia lesbian are suing their late daughter’s wife to prevent her from receiving her partner’s profit-sharing benefits. Lawyers for the parents argue that the couple’s Canadian marriage cannot be recognized under DOMA. Via Christian Newswire:

Thomas More Society attorneys argue that the parents are entitled to the funds because their daughter executed a beneficiary designation form in their favor before her death, and because Farley and Tobits’ “marriage” was invalid under Federal and Pennsylvania law. Under the terms of the profit-sharing plan, the parents would be next in line when there is no spouse, even without a designated beneficiary form from the deceased. Therefore, they are legally entitled to the funds as Farley’s surviving parents on two accounts.

Full Story from Joe.My.God

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Tags: benefits, death, lawsuit, lesbian, parents, wife

Pentagon to Determine Which Benefits to Offer Partners of Gay Troops

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011

Possible benefits that could be afforded to service members with same-sex partners will be the “the largest piece” of what the Pentagon intends to examine in the 60 days before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is off the books, according to DOD officials.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Steven Hummer, chief of staff of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Repeal Implementation Team, identified benefits Friday as among the policies “important to the department and service members” and said they’ll be examined before and after the military’s gay ban has been lifted.

“The department will continue to study existing benefits to determine those, if any, that should be reviewed based on policy, fiscal, legal and feasibility considerations, to give the service member the discretion to designate persons of their own choosing as beneficiaries,” Hummer said.

Full Story from The Washington Blade

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Tags: benefits, department of defense, gay troops, partners

US: Military Gay Couples Can Marry, But Will Receive No Benefits

Monday, July 18th, 2011

Gay service members from Army soldiers to Air Force officers are planning to celebrate the official end of the military’s 17-year policy that forced them to hide their sexual orientation with another official act – marriage.

A 27-year-old Air Force officer from Ohio said he can’t wait to wed his partner of two years and slip on a ring that he won’t have to take off or lie about when he goes to work each day once “don’t ask, don’t tell” is repealed. He plans to wed his boyfriend, a federal employee, in Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriages are legal.

He asked not to be identified, following the advice of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a national organization that has cautioned those on active duty from coming out until the ban is off the books.

Full Story from The News Tribune

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Tags: benefits, Gay Marriage, troops, us military

FL: Orange County May Extend Benefits to Partners, Children of Gay Employees

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Orange County leaders are poised Tuesday to extend benefits to the domestic partners and children of gay employees, a move that would mark another significant victory for local rights activists.

Five months ago, Orange leaders passed a human-rights ordinance that extended discrimination protections in local businesses and workplaces to gays, lesbians and transgender residents.

On Tuesday, commissioners are expected to approve a change to personnel policies that would give the families of gay workers the same life, health, dental, bereavement and other benefits that heterosexual employees receive.

Full Story from The Orlando Sentinel

Click here for gay marriage resources in Florida.

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Tags: benefits, domestic partners, florida, orange county