COMMUNITY

Domestic Partnership Project & Registry

SAVE Dade’s Domestic Partnership Project continues to gather momentum in Miami-Dade County, educating the community and policy makers on the positive impact of domestic partnerships. The three-year initiative, which began last November, aims to recruit the large number of non-spousal couples in Miami-Dade that have yet to register as domestic partners because of the lack of information out there.

About 400 couples have registered as domestic partners since SAVE Dade helped pass the Domestic Partner & Family Health Coverage Ordinance in May 2008. Considering Miami-Dade’s large LGBT community, however, the number of registered couples should be much higher. Many couples don’t know how to go about registering, or simply don’t understand the importance of domestic partnerships. The Domestic Partnership Project was created to resolve this issue.

SAVE Dade’s Community Outreach Committee, chaired by Juan Del Hierro, will soon begin organizing registry drives across Miami-Dade County. Couples are recruited to come together in town halls or private homes where they are educated on the benefits of registering as domestic partners, which include hospital visitation rights, access to healthcare that their families might not otherwise have, promote healthy and stable relationships, and provide much needed visibility and recognition from elected officials who make policies concerning the future of our families. Following the session, couples can register on the spot. Proof of ID, evidence of joint living accommodations and $50 are all that is needed to register.

“After the passing of Amendment 2, it became obvious that gay marriage will not be an immediate achievement in the equality movement here in Florida,” said Del Hierro. “Domestic partnerships are the only way for loving gay and lesbian couples to have their relationship recognized. Even though the three basic rights granted by domestic partnerships are nowhere near the large amount of rights given to heterosexual couples, the time may come when those three little rights mean the world, like when one spouse wants to visit their loved one in a hospital.”

SAVE Dade has a well-established history in the fight for domestic partnership policies beginning in the City of Miami Beach in early 2001. Through much of the same measures of education and open dialogue incorporated in the current Project, SAVE Dade helped the Miami Beach City Commission consider and pass a domestic partner benefits ordinance in 2001, a domestic partner registry in 2004, and an equal benefits ordinance in 2006. SAVE Dade’s most recent and momentous triumph was helping pass the Domestic Partner & Family Health Coverage Ordinance in May 2008.

The Domestic Partnership Project also plans to move the U.S. Census Bureau to include “unmarried partner” as a Census option when describing another same-sex household member, ensuring that LGBT couples are counted. This component is expected to be added within the second year of the Project.

For more information on how to register your domestic partnership or if you’re interested in hosting a Domestic Partnership event at your home, please contact Joseph at joseph@savedade.org or call SAVE Dade at 305-751-7283.