MA high court overturns Boston's domestic partners policy

                                                                                                                     Vol. XII, No. 7, August 1999

 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overruled an executive order issued last year by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino that allowed homosexual and unmarried heterosexual partners of city employees to receive the same health benefits as married heterosexuals. "The Supreme Judicial Court has confirmed what we believed all along -- the mayor of Boston lacked the authority to enact this kind of ordinance, which would give benefits to same-sex partners," said Vincent McCarthy of the American Center for Law and Justice in a written release. "It is clear the issue of domestic partnership laws rests with the state legislature and the governor, not cities and localities."

Governments, schools and corporations that provide domestic partners benefits continue to increase in the United States. More than 60 state and local governments and about 90 universities offer such benefits, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest homosexual political organization. Among the more than 470 companies or unions with such benefits are American Express, AT&T, Clorox, Eastman Kodak, Levi Strauss, Mattel, Pillsbury, Proctor and Gamble, Starbucks Coffee and Walt Disney, according to HRC.

At its 1997 meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution opposing domestic partners benefits. [BP]