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 Michigan
Supreme Court: No Health Benefits For Gay Partners
by The Associated Press
Posted: May 7, 2008 - 1:20 pm ET
(Lansing Michigan) Local
governments and state universities in Michigan can't offer
health insurance to the partners of gay workers, the state
Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The court ruled 5-2 that
Michigan's 2004 ban against gay marriage also blocks
domestic-partner policies affecting gay employees at the
University of Michigan and other public-sector employers.
The decision affirms a February
2007 appeals court ruling.
Up to 20 public universities,
community colleges, school districts and local governments in
Michigan have benefit policies covering at least 375 gay
couples. After the appeals court ruled, universities and local
governments rewrote their policies to try to comply with the
gay marriage ban - so the effect of Wednesday's decision is
unclear.
The new policies no longer
specifically acknowledge domestic partnerships but make sure
"other qualified adults," including gay partners,
are eligible for medical and dental care. The adults have to
live together for a certain amount of time, be unmarried,
share finances and be unrelated.
The voter-approved law, which
passed 59 percent to 41 percent, says the union between a man
and woman is the only agreement recognized as a marriage
"or similar union for any purpose."
Justice Stephen Markman,
writing for the majority, said that while marriages and
domestic partnerships aren't identical, they are similar.
Dissenting Justices Michael
Cavanagh and Marilyn Kelly said the constitutional amendment
prohibits nothing more than same-sex marriages or similar
unions. They argued that circumstances surrounding the
election suggest Michigan voters didn't intend to take away
people's benefits.
Republican Attorney General
Mike Cox in 2005 interpreted the measure to make
unconstitutional existing domestic partner policies at the
city of Kalamazoo and elsewhere.
Twenty-one gay couples sued,
saying the amendment was about marriage and preserving the
status quo - not taking away benefits from gays. Democratic
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has sided with the couples.
©365Gay.com 2008
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