Posted on 07/01/2003 3:49:34 PM PDT by unspun
By The Leader-Chicago Bureau (chicago@illinoisleader.com) - Opposite sex domestic partnerships not to be included, clerk's office says
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| Rev Bob VandenBosch, lobbyist for Concerned Christian Americans said today is a "sad day for Cook County and the state of Illinois." |
The certificates will be available to Cook County residents in 90 days, but only to couples who are of the same sex. No heterosexual domestic partnerships will be authorized to receive the certificate according to the Cook County Clerk's office.
Cook County Clerk David Orr's office has been preparing for this development. Scott Burnham, spokesman for the Clerk, said today that those who are applying will need to pay $30 and both of the partners will need to come in personally to obtain the domestic partnership certificate.
"When the couple comes in, they will need to fulfill some requirements before obtaining the certificate," Burnham said. "They will need to swear that they are not legally married to someone of the opposite sex, that they are living together in a committed relationship, and they are both over eighteen years of age."
Burnham said that the certificate will provide private sector employers with proof that their employees are in a relationship, opening the way for health care insurance for the other person in the relationship.
“The only purpose that I can see is to incrementally create a new form of marriage in Cook County and then work to expand it to the entire state. It’s a step toward giving rights and benefits to couples who do not qualify for marriage,” Kathy Valente, state director of Concerned Women for America of Illinois said.
The ordinance, which was sponsored by Commissioners Mike Quigley, John Stroger and Mayor Richard M. Daley's brother, John Daley, easily passed the board with one "present" vote. Commissioner Carl Hansen spoke out against the ordinance.
"This is a sad day for Cook County, and for the state of Illinois," Rev. Bob VandenBosch of Villa Park said today. VandenBosch has lobbied against preferential rights for homosexuals at the state capitol for over ten years.
"This ordinance today only muddies up the waters on the issue of marriage," VandenBosch, on the staff of the Quentin Road Baptist Church, said today. "How will these couples register, how will they un-register their partnerships?"
Burnham said that the couples will un-register in a similar way that they register -- likely to be simply filing paperwork, "nothing as complicated as getting a divorce."'
Will bi-sexuals be allowed to register with more than one person in their relationships?
"You need to call Quigley's office for that answer," Burnham said. "I am assuming that only two persons will be allowed to be included in a domestic partnership, just as it is with marriage certificates."
Questions about inheritance provisions, medical care authorization and asset disbursement in case of partnership termination has not been clearly outlined either, the clerk's office said.
"The homosexual movement has always wanted preferential treatment, and now they have it in Cook County," VandenBosch said. "The only hope for marriage to be protected in Illinois is for the church to begin an outcry against this. With the Supreme Court's decision last week, and this decision today, maybe onlookers will finally get involved in protecting our children's future."
_______________ What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this story? Write us at letters@illinoisleader.com.
Did you mean to put an "r" between the "t" and the "y," Bill? betty boop things we might be able to fight yet, for some "safe states." Maybe, if things break that way, though I don't know how we can reverse the trend toward centralized government.
More than sad - miserable, disgusting, psychotic, irrational, devious, blatently homo-fascist, in-your-face aggressively anti-religious. And this is this is just the beginning.
Scott Lively on his website www.DefendtheFamily.com has an editorial saying there is no silver lining to this (storm) cloud of a sodomy decision.
I'm not so sure - maybe this slap in the face (or more like a kick in the stomach) from the homosexualists (homos and their fervent supporters) will wake people up to what's in store - unless we take action.
The County is not recognizing unmarried heterosexual couples who live together, only homosexual couples.
That's discrimination. Homosexuals are givin an elitist status here.
The normal heterosexuals who are living together should sue.
Heterosexuals can't get job related medical bennies, but homosexuals can. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? It's backwards!
I suspect they will. Don't know that it will due the cause of righteousness any good though. Just a side slip, or so that would seem.
Hasn't Los A. already done this? SF has.
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