Posted on 04/05/2004 10:21:45 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Duke threatens YMCA
Says it will end relationship if same-sex couples not given family rates
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Duke University has threatened to end its relationship with the local YMCA if the organization doesn't allow school's employees who are part of same-sex couples to pay the family membership rate.
A spokeswoman for the YMCA of the Triangle said the organization received a letter with the ultimatum from the university on Friday, reported the Durham Herald-Sun.
Duke, the largest employer in Durham, N.C., said in the letter dated last Tuesday that the school's agreement with the YMCA gives Duke employees and their dependents discounted memberships in exchange for Duke promoting the Y. Officials at the university claim the Y had agreed to honor Duke's "same-sex spousal equivalent" policy, the paper reported.
"We had an agreement," John Burness, Duke's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, told the paper. "If they don't meet the agreement, then we don't have a relationship."
Under the agreement, more than 200 Duke families enrolled at the YMCA, including some same-sex couples.
According to the report, Duke has given the Y until Friday to respond to the demand letter. If the policy does not change, the university says the previous agreement is history.
Currently, the YMCA's $89-per-month family membership rate is available only to married couples, with or without children. The rate for single adults is $62 a month. For two people, that's $124 a month, or $35 more than the family rate.
The Herald-Sun reported Durham city government officials asked the YMCA last month to offer same-sex couples the same membership rates as married couples receive. One councilwoman has suggested the city end a $70,000 contract with the Y to provide certain services if the organization does not allow homosexual couples to take advantage of family rates.
Officials at the YMCA say the agency relies on the state's criteria of a family as including a married couple.
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