The Register-Guard
Posted on 05/29/2002 12:25:16 PM PDT by Glutton
What constitutes a couple?
By JEFF WRIGHT
The Register-Guard
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Those questions surfaced Tuesday at the first of four forums sponsored by the Eugene Human Rights Commission on whether the city should establish a domestic partner registry for same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexuals.
Dozens of cities from New York to West Hollywood have adopted similar registries, including Portland/Multnomah County and Ashland. Couples who sign such registries, while not legally married, become potentially eligible for a range of benefits enjoyed by married couples, from insurance benefits to visiting a partner in the hospital or jail to being eligible for family rates at health clubs.
At the Hilyard Community Center on Tuesday, Bill Northrup said he objects to the registry idea because "it gives city recognition to lower levels of commitment than those found in the covenantal contract of marriage."
But Mary Lee Turner said she married and divorced three times before entering into her current, seven-year relationship with another woman. She said she now enjoys "a significantly greater degree of commitment than I've ever experienced in my life."
Karen Lundblad said she feels proud to live in a community willing to consider such a registry.
Lundblad said she was "treated with great respect" when she lived in Pennsylvania, married to a doctor and was the mother of two sons. The high regard continued, she said, even after her husband died and she suddenly became a single parent. But others' perceptions of her changed drastically, she said, when she fell in love anew - this time with a woman.
"No longer was I invited to the parties and the board rooms," she said. "It was all quite confusing because I thought I was the same person. ... It means a great deal to me to live in a community where I dare even say this out loud."
Lundblad was one of eight people who testified at Tuesday's forum, with all but Northrup endorsing the registry idea.
One speaker, Nick Urhausen, said he believes a registry would be more politically palatable if restricted to gay couples, who cannot legally marry, rather than extended to heterosexual couples who have the legal option to marry but choose not to.
If adopted, the registry would be open to unmarried couples who live together and who indicate that they are each other's sole partner and intend to remain so indefinitely. Couples would not have to live in Eugene to sign the registry, and the registry would not require any person, business or agency to recognize the relationship.
The city so far has received nearly 80 citizen responses to the registry idea, with supporters exceeding opponents by roughly a 7-1 margin, human rights commissioner James Dean said.
The City Council must approve the registry, after a public hearing this fall, before it can become city law.
Creating the registry is only one of several proposed revisions to the city's human rights code. Other changes would extend anti-discrimination protections to transsexuals; allow people who believe they've been discriminated against to file a private lawsuit based on the city law; and create a new committee to support the volunteer case managers who help citizens reporting incidents of discrimination or harassment.
Regarding gender identity, the changes spell out "reasonable accommodations" that might be required in enforcing a dress code or allowing a transsexual to use a public or employer's restroom.
Northrup said the law as drafted "would allow disgruntled employees to cross-dress and call themselves by an opposite-gender name" with employers unable to stop the behavior. Worse, he said, the proposed law would allow people to change their identity and appearance as a ruse to gain access to opposite-sex bathrooms.
Greg Rikhoff, the city's human rights coordinator, said the work group reviewing the proposed code changes has already talked about eliminating or revising the language relating to bathroom access.
As for the suggestion that a domestic registry be limited to gay couples, that carries its own problems, Rikhoff said. The city of Ashland decided to limit its domestic registry to same-sex couples and now faces charges of discrimination from heterosexual couples who wish to sign the registry and can't, he said.
HUMAN RIGHTS CODE FORUMS
Public can comment on domestic partner registry and other proposed changes.
- Eugene Human Rights Commission
Just some background not mentioned is that Eugene is a Mecca for lesbin couples. There are more here then any other smll city on the West coast.
Some have been on the city council, and many work in city government. The political environment of Eugene is waaaaaaaaaaay more liberal then most people here are used to dealing with too I might add.
When two women dress up like two men but relate to each other like members of the opposite sex it seems resonable to me to consider they might have some emotional issues.
The State has no place sactioning or licensing relationships.
It isn't a party to the relationship, and to be perfectly honest, petitioning the State for a marriage license smacks of begging a King for his permission to wed. Free people need no such permission.
But people have grown so accustomed to having the state meddle in every bit of life's affairs, that these things never occur to them.
And then, in shock and dismay, they watch as government redefines marriage to include gays, when it is they themsleves who have given the State such power.
People will never learn.
If you call someone a nasty, be propared to have the police respond. I have seen this happen. The cops can't do anything to someone for verbiage, but they advise anyone they respond to to deal with to stifle themselves.
He walked away in disgust without any more woeds when they started talking how he was going against the spirit of the city code against discrimination.
I had to agree with his reaction. That was a bit much.
As for the emotional issues, I say, "Physician: heal thyself." Why anyone would concern themself with how two consenting adults relate to one another is beyond my ken. It's not worth your energy. You will never change how other people feel about each other. Besides--when these feelings come with commitment and love, why would you want to? Those things are good, right?
They're were on private property, were they not?
I'd have told them to leave and if they refused, have them arrested for trespassing.
If they don't like the store's support of the Boy Scouts, they can shop somewhere else.
BTW, I support the Scouts right to free association, despite the fact that they wouldn't allow me to participate. You see, they don't allow atheists either.
LOL!
WTF??? Is that people with a parrot fetish?
Two adult people claim to love each other. They make a commitment, share joys and tribulations, fun and work, living space, expenses, maybe even children. There is nothing militant about it. It's what people do every day.
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