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 Hawaii House Passes Gay Partner Benefits Bill
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 9, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Honolulu, Hawaii) A bill that would extend
health coverage to the unmarried partners of state and county
workers who are part of the state health fund has been passed by the Hawaii
House.
The legislation passed 34-6 vote, with 11
representatives absent. It now advances to the state Senate.
In addition to covering same-sex partners the
bill also would provide coverage to interdependent pairs not in a domestic
relationship.
The bill was introduced after the legislature
effectively killed a proposal to create civil unions for gay couples by
declining to vote on the legislation
Civil unions had been
suggested as a way for the state to sidestep a controversy over gay marriage,
but they proved to be nearly as contentious.
Opponents argued that civil
unions were being used as a step toward legalizing gay marriage. Proponents said
they want the legal guarantees granted to married couples, such as tax breaks,
adoption rights and health benefits.
The Roman Catholic Church which opposed civil
unions endorsed the benefits bill, primarily because it included more than
same-sex couples.
''The main purpose of reciprocal benefits was to provide benefits to people
in need in a way that was not based on sex partner status,'' said Kelly Rosati,
a spokesperson for the Hawaii Catholic Church and executive director for the
Hawaii Family Forum.
Hawaii nearly legalized gay
marriages more than a decade ago before stiff public opposition came from family
advocacy groups and the Catholic and Mormon churches.
A decision by the Hawaii
Supreme Court would have allowed same-sex marriages, but a 1998 constitutional
amendment and a law defined marriage as between two people of opposite sexes.
©365Gay.com 2007
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