Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 02:25:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Doug Ferguson Subject: Carrboro, NC Unanimously Passes Domestic Partnership! What follows is an urgent press release from the Orange (County) Lesbian and Gay Association (OLGA) in Orange County, North Carolina. Good news for the lesbian & gay community and other nontraditional families for a change! Maybe Pete Wilson in California couldn't do it, but we were able to pull it off in a small North Carolina town! I would urge all people who have the time to write letters to the Carrboro, North Carolina Aldermen and Mayor to thank them for their courage in passing domestic partnership legislation in Jesse Helms's own backyard! Although the measure passed unanimously -- so your letters can be addressed generically to the Carrboro Aldermen and Mayor -- special thanks might be made to Alderman Michael Nelson, the only openly gay elected official in North Carolina. Mike is the Alderman who proposed the legislation. Please address all letters (no faxes) of thanks to: The Carrboro Aldermen and Mayor PO Box 829 Carrboro, NC 27510 Thank you for your efforts in supporting our allies in local government! Letters are especially encouraged from residents in and around Carrboro and Chapel Hill, but it would be impressive to demonstrate that our national LGB community also appreciates the strides made by courageous folks in small-town USA! Doug Ferguson OLGA Member PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE ORANGE LESBIAN AND GAY ASSOCIATION Serving the voting citizens of Orange County, NC Contacts: Doug Ferguson (OLGA member) - (919) 932-5817 Michael Nelson (Openly gay Carrboro Alderman) - (919) 929-7514 Susan Johnston (OLGA member) - (919) 942-2939 September 13, 1994 N.C. TOWN UNANIMOUSLY VOTES IN DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP CARRBORO, N.C. -- The Carrboro Board of Aldermen made history Tuesday night as their unanimous vote made Carrboro the first community in North Carolina to permit the registration of unmarried domestic partners. Beginning October 11, the date gays and lesbians across the country celebrate as National Coming Out Day, unmarried same-sex and opposite-sex couples living in Carrboro will be able to pay a $40 fee (the same fee as for a marriage certificate) to register as domestic partners. After Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird entered into the record several letters supporting and opposing domestic partnership, Alderman Michael Nelson, the only openly gay elected official in North Carolina, made the motion to adopt the legislation. The motion was seconded by Alderman Jacquelyn Gist. "I ask that you all join with me and vote for this ordinance tonight," Nelson said before the vote. "I believe this is fundamentally a civil rights issue. It's an issue of fairness, and approving this measure is simply the right thing to do. Unmarried couples in Carrboro -- people who have built a life together, who have a home, who may have children, who are a part of our community -- these couples are not treated with equity and fairness. Some may be unable to marry, like lesbian and gay couples. Some -- senior citizens, for example -- may choose not to marry for fear of losing pension benefits or social security benefits. But whatever reasons couples choose for not marrying, their families should be treated with equity and fairness." Nelson added that unmarried partners are not permitted many of the rights and privileges currently enjoyed by married couples, including hospital visitation rights, intestate succession rights, tax advantages and other government benefits. He said that although Carrboro's domestic partnership legislation would not remedy many such disparities, the ordinance was still important. "In the eyes of the law, unmarried domestic partners are strangers -- total strangers -- and that simply ain't right," Nelson said. "And even though the registration ordinance cannot and does not address most of these issues I was just discussing, it's one step in the right direction." Despite the benefits which partners might receive from registration, including family health and auto insurance coverage by a few insurance companies, Nelson said the Carrboro legislation was bout much more than money. "There's not a lesbian or gay family in this town that wouldn't trade all the money in the world for the respect that straight married couples have," Nelson said. "So this ordinance isn't about money, it's not about sex, it's not about sin, it's not even about symbolism. What it is about is creating an environment in which all families are nurtured and strengthened. It's about community building." After voting unanimously for the ordinance permitting townwide domestic partnership registration, the Aldermen also unanimously passed a measure that will require elected officials to file a financial disclosure statement for domestic partners. Such a procedure is currently required for spouses. The vote on a third measure, which would cover domestic partners of town employees under Carrboro's health insurance plans, was delayed until the Spring to allow for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina to respond to the measure. Kaiser Permanente, another healthcare provider for Carrboro employees, has already agreed to insure domestic partners as dependents. Doug Ferguson, a founding member of the Orange (County) Lesbian and Gay Association, said after the meeting that he had expected the measures to pass, but that he was especially pleased with the unanimous vote. Ferguson added that OLGA members had met with several Aldermen over the last few months to discuss domestic partnership. "I think this is a clear indication that we did a good job on allaying any fears the Aldermen may have had about domestic partnership," Ferguson said. "We hashed out the legal issues, we hashed out the moral issues, and we were able to answer any questions that the Aldermen had concerning what this legislation meant to nontraditional families and what it could mean to the community as a whole. The entire town of Carrboro won with this vote tonight." Ferguson also said he was pleased that Nelson suggested the National Coming Out Day startup date for domestic partnership registration in Carrboro. National Coming Out Day is a program of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the nation's largest lesbian and gay political and grassroots organization, of which Ferguson is a Board member. Carrboro's passage of domestic partnership legislation came on the heels of this Sunday's veto of a similar measure by Gov. Pete Wilson (R) of California. If Wilson had not vetoed the domestic partnership legislation, which was passed by both the State Assembly and the State House in August, California would have become the first state to recognize domestic partnerships. Currently, several cities and towns, including Seattle, Atlanta and San Francisco, recognize domestic partnerships. -- end -- PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE