Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships: Domestic Partnership Benefits

Domestic partner benefits are combinations of protections extended to non-married couples. Benefits may include health insurance, bereavement leave, parental leave, housing rights, tuition reduction, or use of recreational facilities. Currently, many municipalities, universities, private companies and state governmental employers offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. In the 1980s, the emergence of gay families and the AIDS crisis galvanized gay men and lesbians to push for domestic partner benefits. In 1984, Berkeley California became the first city to extend employee health plan benefits to domestic partners. In 1989, Seattle extended several benefits to domestic partners. Domestic partner benefits continue to be a viable means for securing same-sex couple benefits. Despite statutes banning same-sex marriage, California, New Jersey and Maine recently passed domestic partner legislation granting several marital benefits to same-sex couples. An open question is whether domestic partnership protections will be recognized outside their issuing state.