Richard Moreau
Sat, 15 Sep 2001 20:07:51 -0700
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Published Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News
Senate approves partner rights bill
BUT CRITICS CONTEND GRANTING BENEFITS TO UNMARRIED COUPLES CIRCUMVENTS PROP.
22
BY KATE FOLMAR
Mercury News
SACRAMENTO -- A far-reaching bill that would grant unmarried domestic
partners sick leave benefits, the right to sue for wrongful death and the
ability to make medical decisions for each other passed the California
Senate on Monday and is set to become law.
Gay and lesbian advocates hailed the bill, which one called the most
comprehensive domestic partner rights in the nation, as a step toward
equality -- granting commonsense benefits to unmarried couples. But
opponents view it as an attempt to circumvent last year's voter-approved
Proposition 22, which limited marriage to heterosexual couples.
The bill gained considerable public attention when Sharon Smith, the
longtime partner of San Francisco dog mauling victim Diane Whipple testified
in its favor. She has filed a wrongful death claim against the dog owners.
The bill does not allow gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. But it
does offer 13 legal protections supported ``by the vast majority of
Californians,'' the bill's author, Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San
Francisco, said after the 23-11 Senate vote. ``It's been a long time coming.
This has been incremental but significant process, and we're very pleased
that there are real tangible benefits this time around.''
Migden said the legislation would give more heft to the state's existing
domestic partnership registry, which she sponsored. To date, nearly 9,000
couples have registered as domestic partners, receiving state recognition
and validation, but few legal rights.
State Sen. William ``Pete'' Knight, who backed the ``Defense of Marriage''
proposition, blasted the bill as an attempt to recognize gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered couples as ``normal'' and put them on equal
footing with married couples.
``It's a bad bill because it undermines Proposition 22,'' said Knight, a
Palmdale Republican. ``The people of California have indicated that they
think marriage should stay between a man and a woman. Gay people, including
bisexual, transsexual and transgender people, are moving in the hopes of
being accepted in the eyes of society as normal families.''
Gov. Gray Davis has vowed to sign AB 25, but first the bill will return to
the Assembly for a simple up or down vote. The law also applies to unmarried
heterosexual couples over age 62 if they meet specific provisions under the
federal Social Security Act.
The right to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner isn't as
romantic as vowing, `` 'Til death do us part,'' but it is a landmark
nonetheless, said Jean Harris, executive director of the California Alliance
for Pride & Equality. She hopes the bill will encourage more gay and lesbian
couples to join the registry and be counted.
``It's the most comprehensive domestic partnership bill that's been passed
in the country,'' she said. ``The other side of that is that there are 13
things here and still 1,300 to go. But it will have tremendous impact to
16,000 who will benefit from it immediately, as soon as the bill goes into
law.''
Specifically, the law would allow domestic partners several rights,
including: use of sick leave to care for partners and their children, the
ability to make medical decisions when a partner is unable to make them, the
right to adopt a partner's child and the ability to inherit property when a
specific will is not present.
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Contact Kate Folmar at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (408) 441-4601.
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