Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 04:00:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Doug Ferguson Subject: N.C. DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP 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 about 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. -- end -- PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE...PRESS RELEASE