400 couples have registered as domestic partners since the ordinance passed last May, a surprisingly low number considering Miami-Dade’s large LGBT community. Lack of information may be at fault; however, many couples do not know how to go about registering, or simply do not understand the importance of registering.

Registering your domestic partnership can provide important protections in times of need. For example, prior to the passage of the Domestic Partner registry in Miami-Dade, a long time SAVE Dade member was not allowed to see his dying partner while in the hospital. You may have also seen news reports of an incident just two years ago, when Janice Langbehn reported that she was not allowed to see her partner, Lisa Pond, in the hospital after Lisa had a brain aneurism and was rushed to a local Miami-Dade County hospital. 

That does not have to be someone’s reality today. Miami-Dade’s Domestic Partnership Ordinance entitles registered domestic couples to visit each other in the hospital. The right to see your loved ones in the hospital should be considered a basic right, but it is actually a right that the LGBT community has had to fight for, and it is a right that for some couples only comes from registering with the County.

Making sure eligible couples register their domestic partnerships will also help to confirm to elected officials the necessity of making the partnership registry available. This will not only provide visibility for the LGBT community’s need for these rights and protections, but is also evidence the community is not small and insignificant, as some elected officials seem to believe. It is vital to stand up and be counted.

SAVE Dade’s Community Outreach Committee, chaired by Juan Del Hierro, has begun organizing registry drives across the county. Couples are recruited to come together in town halls or private homes where they are educated on the “how’s” and the “why’s” of domestic partnerships. 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. 

SAVE Dade has made it its goal to help register 500 new domestic partners by the end of 2009.

For more information on how to host a Domestic Partnership event at your home or for information on how to register your domestic partnership, contact SAVE Dade at savedade@savedade.org or call us at 305-751-7283.