Ohio Pt 2: Cuyahoga County votes to extend benefits to kids of gay parents
It’s an Ohio kind of day, and in particular Cuyahoga County where I grew up. Their newly formed council voted to extend benefits to kids of gay parents, while heterosexual couples who are unmarried will not get the same consideration.
The reason? Straights can get married, and gays cannot. Therefore to be more inclusive the Council votes to level the playing field. Sadly, once again, the uber-bloggers missed this piece entirely.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County Council voted Tuesday to give health care benefits to the children of gay couples, a benefit they do not give to the children of unmarried heterosexual couples.
The reason, council members said, is that heterosexual couples can get married to get benefits for their children.
“This is the first step to be more inclusive,” Council Vice President Sunny Simon, who introduced the legislation, said afterward. “They have a choice to get married. This particular group has no choice.”
Council adopted the legislation 6-4, its closest vote ever since the restructured county government started meeting in January 2011. Besides Simon, also voting for the legislation were Ellen Connally, Dan Brady, Dale Miller, Yvonne M. Conwell and Julian Rodgers — all Democrats.
Three Republicans — Dave Greenspan, Michael J. Gallagher, and Jack Schron — and East Side Democrat Pernel Jones voted no.
Parma Councilman Chuck Germana, a Democrat, was absent.
Unlike the city of Cleveland, which extended benefits last year to domestic partners in same- and opposite-sex couples, the county will not require employees to sign up for a partnership registry.
While the original legislation introduced in August offered health insurance to same-sex and opposite-sex couples, the version that passed limits the benefits to same-sex couples and their children.
I’m willing to bet we see Ohio (and Cleveland in particular) get alot more gay friendly with the Gay Games coming in 2014. It’s just good business sense: You don’t want 10k+ gays descending on a state that’s not gay friendly. They’re going to want something to brag about.
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