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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Gay Benefits Order 'Disappointing'
By Dan Boyd
Journal Capitol Bureau
SANTA FE — President Barack Obama moved Wednesday to extend government benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees, but the provisions don't include primary health insurance — which has been available to domestic partners of New Mexico state government workers since 2003.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund called the signing of the memorandum a "building block toward full equality," but it received a less than enthusiastic response from a leading gay rights advocate in New Mexico.
"It's disappointing," said Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico. "If you're going to offer federal employee benefits, why not give the full package of benefits?"
There are more than 30,000 federal employees in New Mexico in agencies such as the Department of Energy, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, according to the University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
The memorandum Obama signed Wednesday allows federal employees to use sick leave to care for domestic partners and permits same-sex partners to be added to a government insurance program that pays for long-term conditions, such as Alzheimer's, but doesn't include full health-care coverage, The Associated Press reported.
In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson issued an executive order in 2003 extending health insurance benefits to the domestic partners — both homosexual and heterosexual — of state employees.
Despite the failure of repeated legislative attempts to pass a domestic partnerships bill that would give to same-sex couples many of the same rights married couples currently enjoy in New Mexico, Siegle said New Mexico compares favorably with the nation as a whole when it comes to recognizing gay couples.
"We are ahead of a lot of places, and certainly the federal government," Siegle said, citing a New Mexico employment law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as Richardson's 2003 executive order.
The state also agreed in April, after being taken to court by the American Civil Liberties Union, to continue providing health care benefits to the domestic partners of state workers once those workers retire.
Lynn Perls, an Albuquerque lawyer who specializes in modern family issues, said it was a "significant statement" for Obama to extend benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. However, she said the memo will have to be scrutinized to see which benefits are included and which are not.
"The Obama administration made a lot of promises ... and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is waiting for his administration to deliver," Perls told the Journal.
Obama said Wednesday that he wants to see the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits government health care benefits for domestic partners, and a law passed in its place to give the partners of gay and lesbian federal employees health-care coverage, survivor benefits and more, the AP reported.
"We all have to acknowledge this is only one step," Obama said.
During his presidential candidacy, Obama also pledged to scrap the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, the AP reported. During his first five months in office, however, he's taken no steps to address that issue.
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