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Domestic partner benefits are
a terrible idea
By Marie MacKay
September 30, 2005 | Mike and John are two same-sex
partners living together in Salt Lake City. Mike works
for the city and soon enough John will receive the same
benefits that Mike enjoys, without even voicing a single
"I do" at the altar.
This scenario is about to become a reality after Salt
Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson signed an order Sept.
21 allowing domestic-partner benefits to Salt Lake City
employees. Aside from violating Utah state law the order,
which was signed in the name of "equal rights," is just
one step closer to legalizing same-sex marriages throughout
the state.
It will include benefits such as health, life, dental
and possibly auto insurance and legal assistance. Although
it applies to heterosexual and homosexual partners alike,
it is aimed at slowly eliminating all moral and religious
objections to same-sex marriages.
Last fall, Utah voters passed the state's marriage
recognition statute that reads: "This state will not
recognize, enforce or give legal effect to any law creating
any legal status, rights, benefits or duties that are
substantially equivalent to those provided under Utah
law to a man and a woman because they are married."
This order defies Utah's position to preserve marriage
as the foundation of society and justifies the illegal
act of providing benefits to two people who are living
together but who cannot legally marry in Utah. Providing
benefits to this group of individuals also discriminates
against other dependents such as parents living with
adult children, adult siblings and roommates. If we
start giving benefits to certain people, we should provide
"equal rights" to everyone else as well.
Anderson has requested approval from the Salt Lake
City Council, but whether or not the council members
agree to it, he hopes it will go in effect as early
as November. Although this order has been brought up
at the state level, many city mayors through Utah could
possibly apply the same order in the near future.
We as citizens should stand up against this order
before other city mayors take on the same initiative
throughout the state. People should know they are responsible
for their own actions and should not be encouraged and
even applauded for avoiding the formation of a permanent
union that can only be found through marriage.
NW
MS |
