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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com November 18, 2010
Eureka Springs to Offer Partner Benefits
By Julie Bolcer
EurekaSpringsx390 (Eureka Springs) | Advocate.com
Eureka Springs, a popular gay tourist destination and the only city in
Arkansas with a domestic partnership registry, announced this week that it
would also become the first to provide health care coverage for the domestic
partners of city workers.
According to a news release from Michael Walsh, who helped lead the effort
in the northwest Arkansas town, “The city’s insurance provider, the
Arkansas Municipal League, notified the city on Monday that beginning
January 1, 2011 both same- and opposite-sex partners of city workers will
have the same access to health insurance as legal spouses.”
The announcement capped a year-long campaign to win the benefits by
expanding the definition of “family dependent,” a move supported by Mayor
Dani Joy, who in August wrote the Municipal League weeks before the city
council passed a resolution in support.
“I am aware as well as you that some will construe this as a ‘gay issue,’
” said Joy. “But the reality is that there are many heterosexual couples
who chose to live together in a committed relationship — as a family —
without entering into the civil contract of marriage. These folks face the
same ‘family’ challenges every day, not the least of which is providing
health care for themselves and for those who are dependent on them. . . .
The definition of family is at the center of our concerns.” |
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