Chilean President Offers Civil Unions Bill

Great news from South America. The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, has introduced legislation to legalize same-sex civil unions.

AFP reports:

"All forms of marriage deserve respect, dignity and the support of the state," said President Sebastian Pinera, who signed the proposal and sent it to Congress.

"This puts opposite-sex and same-sex couples on the same footing, because in both cases it is possible to develop love, affection and respect."

Pinera, who brought conservatives to power after 20 years of center-left rule in the country, grated on his own election campaign when he announced his intention to legalize civil unions for gay couples. He said two million people in Chile live together without marrying.

But the president has repeatedly stressed his opposition to gay marriage.

"I deeply believe that marriage is by nature between a man and a woman, but that conviction does not prevent me from recognizing that other forms of affective relationships exist," he said.

The law would permit gay couples who join into a civil union to have access to inheritance and other social benefits.

Chile is reportedly 80% Catholic and did not legalize divorce until 2004(!). However, Argentina is next door and legalized marriage equality for same-sex coupes in July 2010.

Williams Institute Estimates 581,300 U.S. Same-Sex Couples

Yesterday was an historic day in which the United States Senate held a hearing on a pro-LGBT piece of legislation, the Respect for Marriages Act, which would repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, an LGBT public policy think tank, submitted written testimony for the hearing.

Included in the testimony are the following findings from Williams Institute research  about same-sex couples:

• There are 581,300 same-sex couples in the United States, including 50,000 to 80,000 legally married same-sex and another 85,000 who are in civil unions or registered domestic partnerships.

• Approximately 20% of same-sex couples are raising nearly 250,000 children.

• Almost one-fourth of same-sex partners are people of color.

• Over 7% of individuals in same-sex couples are veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

• Same-sex couples live in every congressional district and in almost every county in the United States.

In addition, the testimony summarizes Williams Institute research documenting a number of ways that DOMA results in legal, financial, social, and psychological hardships for many same-sex couples and their families.  These include:

• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Benefits.  Nearly 430,000 same-sex partners remain barred from taking leave to care for a same-sex spouse under the FMLA, even if they marry.

• Benefits for Spouses of Federal Employees.  The same-sex spouses and partners of over 30,000 federal employees are ineligible for important benefits available to different-sex married spouses.

• Veteran Partner Benefits.  Same-sex spouses and partners of nearly 68,000 veterans are barred from a variety of benefits including pensions, educational assistance, and vocational training available to different-sex spouses.

• Taxation of Employee Health Benefits for a Same-Sex Spouse.  When private employers offer health insurance to same-sex spouses and domestic partners, federal law taxes these benefits. Approximately 41,000 employees with a same-sex spouse or domestic partner pay, on average, over $1,000 more in taxes per year than an employee receiving the same health benefits for a different-sex spouse.

• Spousal Impoverishment Protections for Medicaid Long Term Care (LTC).  Medicaid LTC beneficiaries may have to use some of their spouse’s income and assets to pay for LTC. Federal law requires states to allow different-sex spouses to retain income and assets to protect them from destitution. However, about 1,700-3,000 individuals whose same-sex spouses or partners receive Medicaid-financed LTC are not protected by these spousal impoverishment provisions.

• Estate Tax.  Over the next two years, members of same-sex couples who will pay the federal estate tax, will pay, on average, more than $4 million more than a survivor of a different-sex spouse because they do not qualify for the federal estate tax spousal exemption.

• Social Security Survivor Benefits.  Unlike different-sex spouses, same-sex spouses cannot continue receiving their spouse’s social security payments after their spouse’s death. This results in a loss, on average, of over $5,700 for a same-sex spouse that receives lower social security payments than the deceased spouse. 

• Immigration for Bi-National Couples.  Nearly 26,000 same-sex couples in the United States are bi-national couples who could be forced to separate because they cannot participate in green-card and accelerated citizenship mechanisms offered to non-citizen spouses of American citizens. 

• Social Stigma.  Research shows that laws such as DOMA produce stigma that has serious adverse impacts on the health of LGBT people by causing stress and disease. A Williams Institute survey of people married to a same-sex spouse in Massachusetts found that couples gain social support from their families and have a greater level of mutual commitment when they are allowed to marry.  

The Williams Institute testimony concludes that DOMA has also impaired the ability of researchers to assess its impact on same-sex couples and their families. Although the U.S. Census Bureau has begun to reevaluate its policy of not counting married same-sex couples as such, a legacy of DOMAis evident in a general resistance on the part of federal statistical agencies to collect detailed, accurate, and reliable data on same-sex couples and their families. This means that, in spite of the efforts of the Institute, policy debates on laws like DOMA have too often been driven as much by anecdote and stereotype as by sound social science research and facts.

It's great that we can get the factual and actual impact of anti-LGBT public policy like DOMA in to the Congressional Record so that this will increase the momentum to pass legislation to end the discrimination. Apparently all 10 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee support repealing DOMA, so they could vote to move it to the Senate floor, where it will almost certainly be killed by a Republican filibuster.

RI Gov Blasts (But Signs) Discriminatory Civil Unions Bill

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chaffee

Usually when a governor signs a civil union bill into law the LGBT community celebrates, but not this time. Rhode Island Independent Governor Lincoln Chaffee signed a civil unions bill into law over objections from a coalition of LGBT groups and opposition from religious heterosexual supremacists.

The debate is over the Corvese Amendment, which looks like:

15-3.1-5. Conscience and religious organizations protected. – (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no religious or denominational organization, no organization operated for charitable or educational purpose which is supervised or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization, and no individual employed by any of the foregoing organizations, while acting in the scope of that employment, shall be required:

(1) To provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, certification, or celebration of any civil union; or

(2) To solemnize or certify any civil union; or

(3) To treat as valid any civil union; if such providing, solemnizing, certifying, or treating as valid would cause such  organizations or individuals to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.

(b) No organization or individual as described in subsection (a) above who fails or refuses to provide, solemnize, certify, or treat as valid, as described in subdivision (a)(1), (a)(2) or (a)(3) above, persons in a civil union, shall be subject to a fine, penalty, or other cause of action for such failure or refusal.

This is an incredibly broad religious exemption. Basically, it allows Catholic hospitals to deny life-saving medical decisions by one member of a civil union. In fact it allows any "religious" organization (or individual employee of such an organization) to completely ignore a civil union.

When Governor Chaffee signed the bill into law, according to the Middleton Patch he said:

That exemption, "gives these institutions and their employees the choice of refusing to recognize civil unions. As a result, a party to a civil union could be denied the right to make medical decisions for his or her partner, denied access to health insurance benefits, denied property rights in adjoining burial plots or denied family memberships at religiously-affiliated community centers. If religiously-affiliated hospitals, cemeteries, schools and community centers refuse to treat civil unions as valid, it would significantly harm civil union partners by failing to protect their medical, physical and commercial interests at critical moments in their lives," Chafee wrote. "This extraordinary exemption eviscerates the important rights that enacting a civil union law was meant to guarantee for same sex couples in the first place." 

"I am signing this bill because I believe that same sex couples should have the same legal rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities as heterosexual couples. Although this measure is a step forward, it fails to fully achieve those goals in its present form," Chafee wrote.

What's so bizarre about this fight is that Rhode Island already recognizes same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. So, if one Rhode Island couple gets married in New York and another Rhode Island couple gets civilly united in Rhode Island, it is the locally wed couple that can be legally discriminated against under this law, while the externally married couple can NOT be discriminated against in the same fashion.

Why would any same-sex couple apply for a Rhode Island civil union when they can apply for a legal marriage license in New York (which has no residency requirement) starting TODAY?

WATCH: Black Lesbian Couple 1st To Get Illinois Civil Union

Lakeesha Harris and Jeanean Watkins, a Black lesbian couple with a registered domestic partnership, were first in line to get their civil union license when Illinois civil unions law went into effect today, June 1. Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law earlier this year. Hawaii and Delaware also enacted civil union laws this year that go into effect later.

Hat/tip to Wonder Man.

WATCH: Delaware Governor Signs Civil Unions Into Law

Delaware Legislature Passes Civil Unions Bill!

Following the passage of the State Senate last Friday by a vote of  13-6, the State House today passed the bill by a vote of 26-15.

The Washington Blade has the story:

"Today, we celebrate a victory for all Delaware families who will have the tools to protect themselves in good times and in bad,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We look forward to Governor Markell signing this bill into law and thank Senator Sokola and Representative George for their leadership on this bill, and Equality Delaware for their tireless dedication.”

The bill, SB 30, cleared a key hurdle on Wednesday when the House Administration Committee voted 4-1 to approve it and send it to the House floor, with House Republican leader Gregory Lavelle voting for it.

[...]

The bill creates “the recognized legal relationship of civil unions” for same-sex couples and provides them with “all of the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities as married persons under Delaware law.”

The bill states that it is not the intention of the legislature “to revise the definition or eligibility requirements of marriage under Delaware law or to require any religious institution to perform solemnizations of civil unions.”

Similar to civil unions bills approved in other states, the Delaware bill would not provide same-sex couples with any federal rights or benefits associated with marriage. The Defense of Marriage Act, which Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed in 1996, bars same-sex couples from receiving federal marriage-related rights or benefits.

Lisa Goodman, president of the board of Equality Delaware, a state LGBT group coordinating lobbying efforts for the bill, said the group and other LGBT organizations and advocates determined they didn’t have the political support in the state to pass a same-sex marriage bill.

Goodman, an attorney in private practice, said the civil unions law would provide same-sex couples and their families, including children, with crucial legal protections that they don’t currently have.

Delaware becomes the eighth state to offer comprehensive statewide protections for same-sex couples, following: Illinois, Hawaii, New Jersey, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington. 5 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex couples to get married (Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire).

Delaware Senate Passes Civil Unions Bill!

Delaware took a big step today in favor of LGBT equality when the State Senate approved SB 30, a bill which would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions which have all the right, responsibilities and rewards that the state can provide to married couples.

According to the Washington Blade, the bill passed by a vote of 13-6

The approval came after the Senate defeated two hostile amendments, including one that would have forced a state referendum on the issue. The second amendment called for expanding the measure to include opposite-sex couples. It was defeated 12-2. 

The bill now goes to the state House where a vote is expected on Wednesday, April 13. Supporters are optimistic because the House is thought to be more supportive of the bill than the Senate.

This is surprising progress in Delaware, since it was a mere two years ago that Delaware passed an LGB rights bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, education and public accommodations. Delaware still does not have a bill banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

Ireland Civil Partnerships Go Into Effect

Hugh Walsh (l) and Barry Dignam are Ireland's first same-sex couple
to be registered after the country's registered partnership measure went into effect Monday April 4th.

 Ireland has joined other European Union countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the United Kingdom) in allowing same-sex couples to register their civil partnerships with the state, obtaining almost all the rights and responsibilities of married couples. The equivalent legal context in the United States to a European "civil or registered partnership" is a civil union or comprehensive domestic partnership.

The first couple to be registered is Hugh Walsh and Barry Dignam, as the Irish Times reports:

Yet today, 17 years after they started going out, they will become the public face of civil partnership in Ireland as one of the first couples to be joined under legislation which came into effect on January 1st. 

[...] 

Mr Dignam admitted that when the couple originally found out that they were to be the first gay couple who were to avail of the new regime without first seeking an exemption to do so, they did consider postponing the ceremony given the media attention that would inevitably follow. 

“We did have an opportunity to move the date but we felt that we would have been cheating [gay] people who had been through an awful lot of hardship – those who had been ridiculed and even jailed in the past,” he said. 

Although both Mr Dignam and Mr Walsh are in favour of full gay marriage rights, they hope that this too may happen in time. 

“This change is a pretty sizeable change although it is a pity it’s not full marriage,” he said, adding that there are those in the gay community who believe strongly that civil partnership does not go far enough. 

“They are right as well. Anything which is not equality is not equal,” he said, but added that he does not believe, like some, that civil partnership should be boycotted and would see himself as an incrementalist.

Congratulations to Hugh and Barry!

Colorado Senate Passes Civil Unions Bill 23-12

The Colorado State Senate, which has a strong Democratic majority 20-15, today completed work on SB 172, the Civil Unions Act, voting by a bipartisan majority of 23-15 to send the bill to the 65-member State House of Representatives where Republicans hold a 1-vote majority.

Interestingly, the three Republicans who voted for the bill are the only 3 female members of the Republican caucus. The Colorado Independent reports:

Highlands Ranch Republican Frank McNulty, House Speaker, will now assign SB 172 to a House committee for review. The scenario that has haunted the bill since it was introduced in February is that it would pass the Democrat-controlled Senate and then be assigned to a hard-line Republican committee on the House side where four or five members could vote it down and kill it. 

That’s still a strong possibility. Yet the bill has garnered much media attention and public polling suggests large majorities of Coloradans support it. McNulty has signaled in the past that he believes the bill deserves a fair hearing and a vote in the House, where Republicans enjoy a one-seat majority. The strong bipartisan vote tally in the Senate bolsters that case. 

Gay rights organization OneColorado celebrated the Senate voice vote Wednesday, where all three Republican women supported the bill, in part for the fact that it strengthens the case for McNulty. 

“We look forward to working with House Republican leadership who have promised a fair hearing,” said Brad Clark, executive director of OneColorado. “Issues of significant importance with overwhelming public support like civil unions deserve a full and fair hearing with an up-or-down vote by the entire House.” 

House Sponsor Mark Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat, has said for weeks that he believes the bill has enough support among Republicans in the House to pass should it make it to the floor.
Supporters of the bill might take heart from the fact there are nine Republican womenserving in the House this legislative session, at least two of whom have already signaled they would vote for the bill.

It should be interesting to see if this makes it through the lower house and to Governor John Hickenlooper's desk, where it is likely the Democratic governor would sign it into law.

Then Colorado would join other Western states such as California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington (and Hawaii) having comprehensive recognition of same-sex couples under state law without calling this legal status marriage.

Facebook Adds "Civil Union" and "Domestic Partnership" Options

This is an interesting cultural advance. Facebook has decided to add two more options to "Relationship Status": in a civil union and in a domestic partnership.

The 600 million user social networking behemoth made a small change to its ‘Relationship Status’ drop down box today, and in doing so recognized ‘In a civil union’ and ‘In a domestic partnership’ as valid choices in the way one can report their personal relationship on the site.

[...]

Starting in Denmark in 1989 and spreading to some 30 plus countries, the concept of civil unions was created to ensure that same-sex couples received the same rights, benefits, and were subject to the same legal responsibilities as opposite-sex couples. The concept is highly controversial with both supporters and detractors for what is commonly referred to as gay marriage, the former believes it does not grant rights equivalent to marriage and thus holds them at a second lesser status, the latter holds that civil unions legitimize a type of relationship that should not be sanctioned by the state.

It should be noted that there are numerous states which have the option of civil unions and domestic partnerships: Illinois, New Jersey,  California, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada with Hawaii and possibly Colorado joining the list soon.

Of course, marriage equality is the law in Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut and the District of Columbia with Maryland and possibly New York joining this list soon.

UPDATE: Colorado Civil Unions Bill Gains Momentum

In Colorado, the previously promised legislation to enact civil unions has materialized, along with a new poll indicating the idea has majority support in the Centennial state. Public Policy Polling (pdf), one of the most accurate pollsters in the country says more than 70% of residents support legal recognition for same-sex couples:

Q8 Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?

Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry……40%
Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry……32%
There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship……25%
Not sure ……3%

The Denver Post reported on openly gay State Senator Pat Steadman's legislation recently:

"This is a method of recognizing committed relationships between two people and allowing them to access the full scope of protections in Colorado law," said the bill sponsor, Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver. 

He and the House sponsor, Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, are two of four openly gay lawmakers in the 100-member General Assembly. 

The measure is expected to cruise through the Democratic-controlled Senate, but the real question is what happens when it gets to the House, where Republicans have a 33-32 edge. 

[...]

House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, has repeatedly said the bill will get a fair hearing no matter which committee hears it. 

Senate Bill 172 allows unmarried adults, regardless of gender, to apply to a county clerk and recorder for a civil-union license. 

The legal benefits, protections and responsibilities granted under the law to spouses would apply to parties in civil unions. That includes the ability to file a claim based on wrongful death, eligibility for family-leave benefits and spousal privilege.

Hawaii Legislature Passes Civil Unions Bill!

Just a few weeks after Illinois' civil union bill was signed into law, Hawaii is rushing to join in the action. Today, the Hawaii State House passed SB 232 by a vote of 31-19, following up on an earlier 19-6 vote by the State Senate on similar legislation. The bill needs to go back to the Senate for a quick concurrence on amendments and then on to Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie's desk, who has promised to sign it into law, unlike Republican Governor Linda Lingle who vetoed an almost identical measure named HB 444 last year.

Interestingly, Hawaii's civil unions bill, unlike California's comprehensive domestic partnership law, is open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples of any age:

Senate Bill 232 would grant same-sex and heterosexual couples the ability to enter into a civil union with all of the rights, protections, benefits and responsibilities of traditional marriage.
 
The House changes — recommended by the state Attorney General's Office — clarify that because civil unions will not be recognized under federal law, certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that apply to husbands and wives in Hawaii would apply with the same force and effect to partners in civil unions. Family Court will also have jurisdiction in matters of annulment, divorce and separation in civil unions, as the court does over marriages.

Reactions to the news of Hawaii's historic step came swiftly from the usual suspects:

Evan Wolfson, Freedom to Marry:  

“By again resoundingly passing a civil union bill that Governor Neil Abercrombie has promised to sign, Hawaii’s legislature acted to acknowledge the state’s loving and committed gay and lesbian couples and their families and to provide them a measure of protections under the law – protections of particular importance during these tough economic times.   This is a victory for all families, because it strengthens the lives of many couples and their loved ones while taking nothing away from anyone else, thereby strengthening the entire ohana, the entire community.  Freedom to Marry applauds Equality Hawaii for its leadership in securing needed protections for Hawaii’s families. 

“While a welcome step, civil union is no substitute for the full measure of respect, clarity, security, responsibilities, and protection of marriage itself.  States that have created civil union as a means of both giving and withholding – providing legal protections while withholding the freedom to marry and all its meaning – have found that civil union falls far short of marriage with all its tangible and intangible significance in our lives.  Many of those states – Connecticut, New Hampshire, and even Vermont, which first created civil union – have since pushed past civil union to marriage, recognizing the inadequacy and unfairness of a separate and unequal status. 

“Loving and committed same-sex couples have the freedom to marry in 12 countries on four continents – as well as in 5 states and the District of Columbia here at home – and the sky has not fallen and the sun continues to rise every morning.  As soon as the governor signs the final bill, Hawaii should move swiftly to finish the job by ending exclusion from marriage itself, allowing all committed couples to share in the same responsibilities, same respect, and same rules.”

Equality Hawaii and Human Rights Campaign 

“Today is a great day for the people of Hawaii,” said Alan Spector, co-chair for Equality Hawaii.  “The action taken by the House today sends a strong message that our state recognizes the importance of moving towards equality.  Providing equal rights to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is long overdue and we thank all those who have stood with us to make this day a reality.” 

After minor changes were made in the House, the bill now heads to back to the Senate for agreement on the amendments before heading to Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his signature.  SB 232 SD1 passed the Hawaii Senate on January 28, by a 19-6 vote.  Except for some technical corrections and implementation amendments, the bill is identical to HB 444, the civil unions bill passed in 2010.  That bill passed the House and Senate with near supermajorities before Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed it.  No override vote was held. 

“The Human Rights Campaign congratulates the Hawaii House of Representatives for overwhelmingly supporting the equal dignity and respect of Hawaii’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.  “No child of a same-sex family should have to grow up with less protections or thinking their family is less legitimate or loving than others.” 

The Human Rights Campaign and Equality Hawaii have worked closely together since 2008 to build both public and legislative support for civil unions.  Through this joint effort, tens of thousands of phone calls, emails, postcards and handwritten letters have been sent to legislators urging them to approve this legislation. 

Mahalo, Hawaii!

Illinois Gov Signs Civil Unions Bill Into Law

The Democratic governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, has signed a civil unions bill into law, making the state one of six in the country to provide same-sex couples as many state-based rights and responsibilities as possible.

From the governor's press release:

CHICAGO – January 31, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn was joined today by lawmakers, advocates and hundreds of Illinois residents as he signed a historic new law that makes Illinois one of just six states nationwide to legalize civil unions. Senate Bill 1716 ensures that for the first time in state history, couples united under a civil union – including same-sex couples – will have access to the full state legal rights and responsibilities enjoyed by couples that are married. 

“Today is an important day in the history of our state because today we are showing the world that the people of Illinois believe in equality for all,” said Governor Quinn. “We look forward to individuals and businesses from across the country choosing to move to Illinois where we believe that everyone is entitled to the same rights. I would like to thank Representative Harris and Senator Koehler for their hard work, and I am proud to sign this into law.” 

Senate Bill 1716, sponsored by Sen. David Koehler (D-Peoria) and Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), creates the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act. Under the new law, both heterosexual and same-sex couples are allowed to enter into a civil union. By entering into a civil union, couples are afforded the same state rights and protections already entitled to married couples. 

“Not often in a legislator’s career do you get a chance to make such a significant impact on our state’s history, which this bill does by ensuring equality for tens of thousands of Illinois families,” said Rep. Harris. “I am very grateful to Governor Quinn for his steadfast support and leadership.” 

In addition to Illinois, five other states and the District of Columbia have civil unions or similar laws on the books. Those states include California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. 

“This bill is important for thousands of Illinoisans and for our state as a whole, and I am honored to have been part of this groundbreaking legislation,” said Sen. Koehler.

Prior to Governor Quinn’s signature on SB 1716, same-sex couples in Illinois had been denied many rights enjoyed by couples who are married. New rights for couples joined in civil union include: automatic hospital visitation rights and the ability to make emergency medical decisions for partners; ability to share a room in a nursing home; adoption and parental rights; pension benefits; inheritance rights; and the right to dispose of a partner’s remains.

The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act goes into effect June 1.

New Jersey also has a civil unions law. The other states which have comprehensive domestic partnership laws are Washington, California, Nevada, and Oregon. In most of these states, their laws are restricted to same-sex couples or opposite sex couples over the age of 62. Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut and the District of Columbia all allow same-sex couples access to the same civil marriage licenses enjoyed by opposite-sex couples. Illinois' civil unions are available to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

There are legislative attempts to enact civil unions in Colorado and Hawaii this year.