Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: REUNION 2000 MOVES AHEAD DESPITE PROP 22
From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 12:01:12 EST

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATED: MARCH 8, 2000

CONTACTS 
ASSEMBLYWOMAN CAROLE MIGDEN   
ERIC POTASHNER   415.557.3000

UNIVERSAL FELLOWSHIP METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCHES
REV. ELDER TROY D. PERRY    310.360.8640  X212 

REUNION 2000      JEFF SHEEHY   415.643.5211  PGR  540.0212
MEDIA COORDINATION:     ALLEN WHITE 415.280.0265

REUNION 2000
THE PLAN FOR STATE OF CALIFORNIA RECOGNITION OF 
50,000 DOMESTIC PARTNER RELATIONSHIPS BY YEAR'S END

A massive statewide effort to register 50,000 domestic partner relationships 
in the year 2000 has begun.  Rev. Elder Troy D. Perry, Founder and Moderator 
of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, said that 
starting this Sunday every Metropolitan Community Church in California would 
participate in an unprecedented effort to recognize and validate the 
relationships of lesbians and gay men. 

Through "ReUnion 2000," a Pride weekend event, the process to register 
domestic partners at every Pride celebration in California will be put in 
place. The event, Saturday evening, June 24, 2000 inside San Francisco City 
Hall is produced by Don Spradlin and Noble Beast Productions, 

"The scope of what we are planning has never been attempted ever before,"  
said Jeff Sheehy, the event's Beneficiary Committee Chair. "ReUnion 2000' 
allows us to register domestic partners, not only at San Francisco Pride, but 
at every pride celebration throughout the state." 

"As opponents of same sex marriage continue to attack the legitimacy and 
truth of committed relationships among lesbians and gay men, legal 
recognition of domestic partnerships through state law represents and 
important affirmation of same sex couples," said California Assemblywoman 
Carole Migden. "California now has a law in place that allows, for the very 
first time, these relationships to be legally, officially and publicly 
recognized by the State of California." 

Assemblywoman Carole Migden authored AB26, the groundbreaking legislation 
which Governor Gray Davis signed into law.  The law, that became effective 
January 1, 2000, made California only the second state in the union to 
legally recognize same sex relationships.  
 
Since its founding by Perry over 30 years ago, the Metropolitan Community 
Church has made the sacrament of marriage available to everyone who wishes 
their relationship validated.  The denomination, with churches on every 
continent, is the largest organization in the world serving the lesbian, gay, 
bisexual and transgender community.

"The State of California now validates what God has recognized and blessed in 
Metropolitan Community Churches for over 30 years," Perry said.  "We give 
thanks for the opportunity to bring these loving relationships out of the 
shadows of secrecy and into the sunlight of God's love." 

Every Metropolitan Community Church in California will have the needed forms 
to begin the state registration process next Sunday.  This will include basic 
information, the California Declaration of Domestic Partnership and filing 
requirements that include securing the signature of a notary public. 

In addition, hundreds from California are participating in an historic 
wedding ceremony in Washington, D. C., Saturday, April 29, 2000 at 10:45 a.m. 
in front of the Internal Revenue Service Building.  California residents may 
also register their domestic partner relationship at this event.

The event, "The Wedding: Now More Than Ever," is a non-sectarian ceremony 
open to all couples who wish to make a public statement of their vows or who 
wish to renew their vows as part of this demonstration.  It is one of many 
activities planned in the nation's capitol as part of the Millennium March on 
Washington.  

"ReUnion, 2000," is a fabulous celebration and dance party that will takes 
place beneath the rotunda of San Francisco's City Hall on Saturday, June 24, 
2000.  "This will be an event that celebrates our relationships and our 
community in an incredible setting," said Spradlin, Noble Beast Productions 
Producer.  "We are planning an unforgettable evening as we raise funds to 
make this statewide effort possible."  "ReUnion 2000" will also coordinate an 
intensive domestic partner registration effort at the two day San Francisco 
Pride Celebration on Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and June 25. 

It is a major event in a weekend of San Pride activities that includes the 
30th anniversary San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride 
Parade on Sunday, June 25.  

"It's About Freedom' is the theme of this year's Pride activities," said 
Calvin Gipson, President, San Francisco Pride Committee Board of Directors. 
"Certainly nothing defines freedom more than for a person to celebrate the 
relationship they share with another."  

Couples can become legally registered domestic partners in California when 
they register together with the Secretary of State.  Domestic partners must 
share a common residence, agree to be jointly responsible for each other's 
basic living expenses, be over 18, unmarried and unrelated by blood.  The 
registration document when completed, signed by the two people in the 
relationship and notarized becomes valid when submitted to the Secretary of 
State's office with a fee of $10.
 
In addition to affirming the relationship, registered domestic partners gain 
several legal rights.  Among those is the right to visit their partner in the 
hospital. Domestic partners who are state and local agency employees covered 
through the California Public Employee Retirement System (Cal-PERS) health 
insurance pool may include their domestic partner as dependents. 

Couples may register with the Secretary of State by completing registration 
forms available through the office of the Secretary of State, county clerk 
office.  The registration form is also available via the Internet at the 
Secretary of State's website at www.ss.ca.gov, the website of the Universal 
Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, wwwufmcc.com and at San 
Francisco Pride, www.sfpride.com.