Safeguarding American Values for Everyone

 Action Alert!

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY DP REGISTRY BEGINS AUG 18

Please Join Us Monday, August 18 at 10:00 AM (140 W Flagler St, 9th Miami, FL 33130) To Officially Register Your Domestic Partnership With Miami-Dade County

Miami, FL (Forward to a Friend) - Thanks to your support, the day we all have worked for is fast approaching - Miami-Dade County's Domestic Partnership Registry Inaugural! Registering is very important as it entitles domestic partners to visitation rights at healthcare, correctional and juvenile facilities, and extends health insurance and employee benefits to the domestic partners of county employees.

Save the date for Monday, August 18 at 10:00 am to join SAVE to officially register your domestic partnership with Miami-Dade County at their Consumer Services Department (140 W Flagler St, 9th Floor, Miami, FL 33130). For details about this special day, see below!

The event will celebrate our work together, honor your loving relationship, and provide area couples the chance to meet each other and strengthen the bonds that exist in our vibrant and diverse community. 

"Considering that loving couples, gay or straight, will have the opportunity to officially register their domestic partnership with Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in the Florida, Monday, August 18 will be historic," says SAVE's Interim Executive director, Orlando Gonzales. 

JOIN US MONDAY, AUGUST 18 AT 10:00 AM!

Are you planning to declare your domestic partnership officially with Miami-Dade County? If so, please join us and your fellow area couples on this important day to officially register your domestic partnership. Here are the details:

• RSVP: Email Orlando Gonzales right away to let SAVE know you will be in attendance.
• DATE/TIME: Monday, August 18 at 10:00 am, sharp.
• PLACE: Miami-Dade County Consumer Services Department, Consumer Protection Division.
• ADDRESS: 140 W Flagler St, 9th Floor, Miami, FL 33130. Click here for a map.
• FAQ: Click here to learn all about the Miami-Dade County Domestic Partner Registry.
• COMPLETE: Fill out the Miami-Dade County "Declaration of Domestic Partnership" form.
  • DOWNLOAD: Click here to download the "Declaration" form.
  • NOTARIZE: Make sure to have your Declaration notarized by a notary public.
  • NOTARY: SAVE will have a notary available on August 18 in case you forget.
• FEE: The administrative fee to officially register is $50 ($5 each additional certificate).
• BRING: Bring your notarized form and registration fee on Monday, August 18 at 10:00 am.

ABOUT THE DOMESTIC PARTNERS ORDINANCE

Miami-Dade County's Domestic Partnership Registry is part of the Domestic Partners and Family Health Coverage Ordinance, passed into law by the Miami-Dade County Commission on May 20, 2008 in a historic 8 to 4 vote. Voting in favor of the ordinance were the following Commissioners:
Bruno A. Barreiro, Chair; Audrey M. Edmonson, Carlos A. Gimenez, Sally A. Heyman, Barbara J. Jordan, Dennis C. Moss, Katy Sorenson, and Rebeca Sosa.

The registry entitles domestic partners to visitation rights at healthcare, correctional and juvenile facilities, among other benefits. The registry is important also as many private sector companies rely on them to extend their own health insurance and employee benefit packages to the domestic partners of their employees. 

Also, any Miami-Dade County employee who is a party to a registered domestic partnership relationship can elect to select insurance coverage for his or her domestic partner or their children in the same manner as an employee may elect coverage for a spouse or unmarried dependant child.

SAVE's work-place equality efforts began in early 2001 in the City of Miami Beach. Through public education, volunteer mobilization and open dialogue with the city, SAVE helped pass the November 2001 Miami Beach ordinance providing domestic partner benefits for city employees, the first ordinance of its kind in Florida. Miami-Dade County's Domestic Partners and Family Health Coverage Ordinance is the latest milestone of this concerted community effort.

About SAVE
Safeguarding American Values for Everyone (SAVE) advocates for equal rights for all people regardless of their sexual orientation, and educates the community about human rights with emphasis on issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.  Established in 1993, SAVE accomplishes this mission through education, grassroots organizing, community mobilization and advocacy.  Starting with the landmark passage of Miami's Human Rights Ordinance in 1998 to recent enactments of domestic partner benefit policies, SAVE continues to lead the fight for LGBT equality in Miami-Dade County.
 
12864 Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 338  l  North Miami, FL 33181  l  305.751.7283 o  l  305.751.9649 f 
http://www.savedade.org/  l  savedade@savedade.org
2008 Not-for-Profit Organization of the Year l  Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce