From: rwockner@netcom.com (Rex Wockner)
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 1994 12:46:36 -0700 (PDT)

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		    First In The Nation
     DOMESTIC-PARTNER BILL PASSES CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE
		      by Rex Wockner
 
	California became the first U.S. state to pass a domestic-partner 
registration law Aug. 25.
	The measure is on the desk of Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who 
has not said if he will sign it.
	"We should do everything in our power to urge the governor to 
sign this bill," said Laurie McBride of Life AIDS Lobby, the main gay 
pressure group behind the measure. "The legislature is getting more 
conservative -- our window of opportunity is now."
	The bill passed the Senate 21-17 with not a vote to spare. It 
passed the Assembly 45-26 in final form. 
	Senate passage came only after frustrated supporters went to the 
home of 76-year-old legislator Leroy Greene and fetched him from his 
sickbed to cast the decisive vote. The measure had sat stalled in the 
Senate for several hours prior to Greene's arrival.
	Introduced by Assemblyman Richard Katz, D-Los Angeles, the 
legislation allows committed couples who live together and share expenses 
to register with the Secretary of State as "domestic partners" and 
receive a few benefits of marriage.
	Registered partners would have family visitation rights in 
hospitals, legal preference to administer each other's affairs should one 
partner become incapacitated, and the ability to use a standard legal 
form to will each other property.
	Lobbyists for the bill used a new tactic this year -- arguing the 
measure would be good for senior citizens, who often live together 
without marrying to maintain certain Social Security benefits.
	Testimony by senior-citizen advocacy groups was crucial to the 
bill's success, gay lobbyists said. Supporters included the Older Women's 
League, the Grey Panthers, the California Senior Legislature, the 
California Congress of Seniors and the American Association of Retired 
Persons.
	Sponsor Katz said the bill "reaffirms what I believe is a basic 
family value -- the ability to care for someone you love."
 
	(Wilson's fax number is (916) 445-4633.)
 
	(San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times contributed to this article.)
				
 
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