San Jose, California -
San Jose Tuesday night became the first city in California to recognize same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco and outside the state, including those performed in Canada, but it will only apply to city workers.
The motion which passed on an 8 - 1 vote was drafted by San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and openly gay council member Ken Yeager.
"We believe it is right and just that employee benefits provided to spouses of city employees should be applied evenhandedly in accordance with our firm and successful commitment to ending bias and discrimination in the workplace," San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales said in a memo to the city council.
"Unless court decisions later rule against the legality of same-sex marriages from San Francisco or other areas of the nation, we must treat all our employees equally."
The plan calls for comprehensive health and retirement benefits for the partners and family members of gay and lesbian city workers, but it is unclear whether health care providers will also agree to extend the benefits.
The move angered conservatives in the community, the largest city in Silicon Valley.
More than 400 residents crowded into council chambers and more than 200 were in an overflow room. Most came from area churches and many of them carried Bibles.
One of those speaking in favor of the measure was city worker Tina Salas, 46. Salas married her partner Kathleen Chavez Salas last month in San Francisco. Her attempt to change her marital status and get health benefits for her partner's biological children led to Gonzales and Yeager drafting the proposal.
The city provides medical coverage to her spouse, but the couple pays hundreds of dollars per month to insure the children. Unlike opposite-sex married couples, Salas' pension would not have automatically passed to her spouse when she died before this resolution passed.
"All I want to do is take care of my family," Tina Salas said. "When I leave this earth, I don't want a hospital to tell my spouse and kids to leave my side because they don't have the rights and benefits to be there."
On Monday, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels signed an executive order today giving benefits to the married spouses of that city employees and he proposed a council motion to protect the rights of all Seattle same-sex married couples no matter where they were married.
©365Gay.com® 2004
The motion which passed on an 8 - 1 vote was drafted by San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and openly gay council member Ken Yeager.
"We believe it is right and just that employee benefits provided to spouses of city employees should be applied evenhandedly in accordance with our firm and successful commitment to ending bias and discrimination in the workplace," San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales said in a memo to the city council.
"Unless court decisions later rule against the legality of same-sex marriages from San Francisco or other areas of the nation, we must treat all our employees equally."
The plan calls for comprehensive health and retirement benefits for the partners and family members of gay and lesbian city workers, but it is unclear whether health care providers will also agree to extend the benefits.
The move angered conservatives in the community, the largest city in Silicon Valley.
More than 400 residents crowded into council chambers and more than 200 were in an overflow room. Most came from area churches and many of them carried Bibles.
One of those speaking in favor of the measure was city worker Tina Salas, 46. Salas married her partner Kathleen Chavez Salas last month in San Francisco. Her attempt to change her marital status and get health benefits for her partner's biological children led to Gonzales and Yeager drafting the proposal.
The city provides medical coverage to her spouse, but the couple pays hundreds of dollars per month to insure the children. Unlike opposite-sex married couples, Salas' pension would not have automatically passed to her spouse when she died before this resolution passed.
"All I want to do is take care of my family," Tina Salas said. "When I leave this earth, I don't want a hospital to tell my spouse and kids to leave my side because they don't have the rights and benefits to be there."
On Monday, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels signed an executive order today giving benefits to the married spouses of that city employees and he proposed a council motion to protect the rights of all Seattle same-sex married couples no matter where they were married.
©365Gay.com® 2004
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.
