JUDGE AFFIRMS PORTLAND DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS: From the Portland Press Herald

One of the nation's leading opponents of same-sex marriage has lost a bid to overturn Portland's domestic partnership ordinance in Cumberland County Superior Court.

Justice Thomas Humphrey rejected a complaint filed in August by several married couples in Portland who claimed the ordinance violated the state's Defense of Marriage Act, which the Legislature passed in 1997.

The couples were recruited by the American Center for Law & Justice, a conservative public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law. The firm, based in Washington, D.C., is fighting same-sex marriage legislation in Congress and in states from Massachusetts to California.

Portland officials view Humphrey's decision as a victory, while opponents of same-sex unions see it as lost ground in the battle to preserve marriage as a heterosexual institution. ...

"The ordinance applies to the extension of limited municipal rights and benefits to domestic partners, not to the regulation of marriage per se," Humphrey wrote. "It does not conflict with any of the state's provisions regarding the licensing or recognition of marriage." ...

The city of Portland, which is self-insured, began offering health benefits to employees' domestic partners in 1999.

Two years later, the domestic partnership ordinance established a registry for committed, unmarried couples. To register, domestic partners must fill out a form at City Hall verifying that they have a relationship "of mutual support, caring and commitment," and that they "intend to remain in such a relationship in the immediate future."

The ordinance extended certain spousal rights, such as bereavement leave and health insurance, to domestic partners of city employees and employees of agencies that receive federal grant money through the city. It also gave registered domestic partners the same rights as spouses to access school information or pick up children at city-funded schools and child-care agencies.

Humphrey pointed out that Maine already had several state laws that recognized the validity of domestic partnerships, including one that gives a domestic partner of a licensed commercial fisherman the same right as a spouse to sit on the Commercial Fishing Safety Council.

Humphrey further noted that Portland's ordinance gained ground when the Legislature adopted a bill three weeks ago to provide domestic partners with automatic inheritance rights and the right to control the remains of their partners.

more
posted by Eve at 9:15 PM | Link |

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home