>From the front page of the Toronto Star Wednesday, August 4, 1993. Copied without permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- SPOUSAL BENEFITS RULED A "MUST" FOR GAY COUPLES by Peter Edwards, Toronto Star Same sex couples must be included in all employee benefits plans in Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights Commission board of inquiry has ruled. The Ontario Blue Cross and York County Hospital have unitl August 13 to appeal the decision by inquiry chair Jeffry House. Winning the battle for benefits are Elizabeth Clinton, a registered nurse at York County Hospital, and her live-in partner, Laurie Ann Mercer. "We never expected it (the decision) to be quite so good," Mercer said yesterday. Blue Cross officials were unavailable for comment last night, and a York County Hospital spokesperson refused comment. The decision comes a year after crown lawyer Michael Leshner won full family coverage for his live-in partner. In the Leshner case, the Ontario Human Rights Code tribunal ruled that same-sex spouses are entitled to collect survivor pension benefits. Leshner had argued that the decision in his case should apply to all employees in the province -- not just civil servants. The decision in the Clinton-Mercer case proves he was right, Leshner said yesterday. "You don't say that racism cares where you work, so why would you say that homophobia cares where you work?" Leshner said. Clinton and Mercer argued that Mercer was entitled to the same spousal benefits as heterosexual couples employed at York County Hospital. In House's decision, the hospital and Blue Cross were also ordered to pay $4000 in damages after the inquiry found that the previous failure to provide benefits demeaned the couple's relationship. York County Hospital has also been ordered to inform other employees of the availability of such benefits. Clinton, 38, has worked at the hospital since 1980, and she and Mercer, 31, have been sexually intimate since May 1988, the inquiry heard. In an interview yesterday, the couple said they consider themselves "relatively apolitical women" and found it sometimes daunting to tackle a "multi-million-dollar corporation". They thanked friends and members of Christos Metropolitan Community Church in downtown Toronto for their support in the fight before the rights' commission. "We didn't go into it because we're gay activists," Mercer said. "We did it because we wanted to set things up for our lives." They bought a condominium together in May 1989, and continue to inter- mingle their financial affairs, sharing a credit card account and wills that name each other as executrix and major beneficiary. In 1991, they celebrated a "Holy Union" ceremony in Christos Metro- politan Community Church and the inquiry heard that they also hope to have a child together. In making its decision, the board accepted Clinton's argument that the only difference between her relationship with Mercer and a heterosexual marital or common-law relationship is that "one of us is not male". Leshner applauded the courage of Clinton and Mercer and slammed the NDP government for not legislationg that all workers in the province should be entitled to employee benefits for their partners.