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| East Point City Council member Lance Rhodes, who is gay, proposed
an ordinance offering domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. (Photo by
R.O. Youngblood) |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: DYANA BAGBY
COMMENTS |
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By a one-vote margin, the East Point City Council approved on Jan.18 an ordinance
offering benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of city employees.
The ordinance, proposed by Lance Rhodes, East Point’s only openly gay
council member, failed in an initial vote when proposed last Nov. 15. Similar
measures also failed in 1999 and 2001.
“I’m very excited,” Rhodes said after the vote. “My
partner (Roger Donodeo) and I plan to be the first couple to sign up.”
DP benefits are slated to take effect June 1. Same-sex couples will be required
to register with the city as domestic partners in order to be eligible for the
benefits, including health insurance.
The measure passed 4-3, with one council member absent. Voting in favor were
Rhodes, Teresa Nelson, Earnestine Pittman and Eddie Lee Brewster. Voting against
were Greg Fann, Patricia Langford and William McClure. Ann Douglas did not attend
the meeting.
After the vote, several people in the small audience, including members of
the public and city employees, erupted in applause.
When East Point, a small city south of Atlanta, considered providing domestic
partner benefits in 1999 and 2001, the proposals failed after bitter discussions
about homosexuality and religion.
Rhodes told the council at a December meeting that up to four employees may
participate in the same-sex DP benefits program, with an estimated cost of $19,000
a year, or less than half of one percent of the city’s $250 million annual
budget.
East Point joins the city of Atlanta, Fulton County, the city of Decatur and
DeKalb County as the only governments in Georgia offering domestic partner benefits
to their employees.
Council member Eddie Brewster said he was voting “reluctantly” in
favor of the ordinance because he hoped one day heterosexual couples in committed
relationships would also be eligible for domestic partner benefits.
“This is a giant leap forward … and I know we have to start somewhere,”
Brewster said. “I have trouble because this ordinance only calls for same-sex
couples. Although I have serious reservations, I don’t want to discriminate.”
Nelson, the former director of the Georgia ACLU who helped fight for a domestic
partner benefits ordinance in Atlanta, argued that heterosexual couples are
given the option to marry whereas gay couples are not.
“I absolutely support this ordinance and narrowing it to same-sex couples
because it sends a message that our employees are recognized as equal regardless
of sexual orientation, race, religion. And same-sex couples have been told they
cannot marry in Georgia while straight couples have that option,” she
said.
Rhodes said he would support offering DP benefits to all city employees “when
the time comes” and the budget allows for it.
Chuck Bowen, executive director of Georgia Equality, attended the Jan. 18 meeting
and said after the vote the East Point legislation was great news for the city
as well as the state.
“This shows that despite the vote on Amendment 1, people still believe
our families deserve some type of protection and recognition and have the same
rights as married couples,” he said.
Bowen added that Georgia Equality plans for the next two years to focus on
similar efforts in other cities as part of a new grassroots effort.
Rhodes said he received public support for proposing the ordinance not only
from Georgia Equality, but also from state Rep. Joe Heckstall (D-East Point)
and state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) as well as U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).
“While many will view this as an economic hardship, others as unethical
or immoral, I have to admit I believe this legislation deserves passage,”
Heckstall wrote in a Jan. 11 letter to Rhodes.
Dyana Bagby can be reached at dbagby@sovo.com.
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