Posted on 12/06/2004 5:12:15 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Court OKs benefits for same-sex life partners of city employees
DAVID B. CARUSO
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - In a victory for gay couples, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled Monday that Philadelphia has a right to give city employees in same-sex "life partnerships" the same type of worker benefits now enjoyed only by married couples.
The justices overturned a lower court, which ruled two years ago that city lawmakers had overstepped their authority and created "a new marital status" by recognizing same-sex relationships. Only the state, that court said, had a right to regulate marriage.
Writing for the high court, Justice Russell M. Nigro said Philadelphia hadn't created a new type of marriage at all, or trampled on state sovereignty, when it decided in 1998 to let the long-term romantic partners of gay and lesbian city employees participate in city health and benefits plans.
"We do not believe that the city's mere designation of "life partnership" as a "marital status" demonstrates that it was equating life partnerships with state-sanctioned marriage," Nigro wrote. "Indeed, even though the legislation affords life partners certain limited rights and benefits that spouses also enjoy, those rights and benefits are but a small fraction of what marriage affords to its participants."
Even with the law, he noted, same-sex couples still wouldn't have the right to file joint tax returns, or avoid testifying against each other in a criminal trial, or automatically receive workers compensation when their partner dies.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
City of Brotherly Love Hump!
David B. Caruso is all excited about this as he files another article pushing the gay agenda.
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=DAVID%20B.%20CARUSO%20Gay
"I have no problem with that as long as, if the "life partner" and the employee ever part ways, the "life partner" gets to keep half of the employee's stuff......And alimony."
Now you have gotten to the nub of this. Trial lawyers are having damp dreams about all of the future broken marriages between gays.
What about hetersexual live in "life partners" who have a personal objection to marriage, this ruling discriminates against their ability to have marriage-lite.
This will eventually push legislatures to take supremancy of such marraige lite efforts.
This is why banning civil unions is now on the table.
Nice to see you, TA!
:-)
IIRC, Philadelphia is where there is a large "gay" community center, replete with a huge moral commemorating homosexual something or other. Isn't it also the place there the Christian protesters were arrested at the "gay" street festival?
Sounds not it's not Ben Franklin's Philadelphia any more.
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