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Students, faculty step up fight for partner benefits
BENEFITS from 2
bers were generally opposed to the 1
idea of providing benefits to unmar- <
ried partners, so they indefinitely
tabled the bill, citing a position the <
Legislature took. <
“They couldn’t support the bill
because the state Legislature doesn’t i
support same-sex marriages,” Adams
said. j
The committee has the jurisdiction 1
to approve the proposal without state 1
endorsement, but Adams said the
members seemed set against it. <
“Members have tried to bring up <
the proposal for discussion,” Adams <
said. “But it’s moot because no one
wants to discuss it” ‘
In an effort to revive the topic,
members of the ASUN Sexual i
Orientation Advisory Council looked 1
to unite people at UNL who supported 1
domestic partner benefits. J
Andy Schuerman, ASUN presi
dent at the time, said the council’s 1
actions were much needed because the
support for domestic partner benefits
was widespread but disjointed.
The committee gathered represen
tatives from the Committee for Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered
Concerns, the Human Rights
Committee of the Academic Senate
and various professors including Wolf.
“The work they did was astound
ing,” Schuerman said. “They found a
way to bring many supporters to the
same table.”
Out of the relationship between the
groups, two important documents
were spawned:
■ An ASUN bill from the Sexual
Orientation Advisory Council that for
mally showed the senate’s support for
domestic partner benefits and
■A new proposal from the Human
Rights Committee of the Academic
Senate, asking for domestic partner
benefits solely for gay partners.
The ASUN bill originally was
drafted to include just gay partners, but
senators amended it to include hetero
' sexual partners as well. The bill passed .<
vi/k a clear majority on Feb. 23. ; J
The Human Rights Committed4
bill was approved by the Academic
Senate on April 4.
John Gaber, a member of the com
mittee, said the new version should
make it through the University-wide ;
Benefits Committee. C;
“We’ve done our background oh
this topic, and we don’t see how they
can shoot it down again,” he said.
Schuerman said the fact that the
Human Rights Committee’s bill focus
es strictly on gay domestic partners
and the ASUN bill support domestic
partner benefits regardless of sexual
orientation is not a problem.
“The Academic Senate bill very
clearly specifies gay couples because
that’s where the most severe instance
of discrimination occurs,” he said.
Joel Schafer, current ASUN presi
dent, said he will do everything in his
power to help the bill pass through the
benefits committee.
“I see it as an equity issue,” he said.
“I firmly believe that GLBT people
should have equal status. To not have
domestic partner benefits is really the
wrong message to send.”
Schuerman agreed and said the
benefits committee has avoided its
duties.
“Their explanation for not passing
he bill was a cop out,” he said. “The
lagship university in the state must be
>n the cutting edge.
“I’m appalled that this kind of dis
:rimination on the basis of sexual ori
mtation is still legal.”
Schafer echoed Schuerman’s com
nents.
“This university should be a pro
gressive institution,” he said. “It should
>e steps ahead of society at large, but
ve’re not that way.”
Schafer said the Sexual
Orientation Advisory Committee will
ontinue to be active in the fight, but he
lid not specify how.
“Things are in the works,” he said.
This is not an issue that will go away.”
A serious problem facing the
mplementation of domestic partner
lenefits is finding support from all
bur universities that make up the NU
ystem.
Students at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center have shown
support, but their heavy class loads
hinder them from being active about
the topic, Schafer said.
The student presidents at both the
University of Nebraska at Omaha and
the University of Nebraska at Kearney
said the topic is not an issue at the
UNO campus, Schafer said.
“We need to build university-wide
support before we can make this hap
pen,” Schafer said.
Both Schafer and Schuerman said
the best time to make a serious move to
voice support for the benefits would be
after the November elections for the
NU Board of Regents.
“We feel like this is not the best
time to pursue this issue,” Schuerman
said. “We don’t want this to be the cor
nerstone of a conservative regent’s
agenda.”
Schafer said most supporters of
domestic partner benefits agree that it
would be best if they waited to push the
benefits committee to pass the bill.
“It would be wise to wait, so this
issue isn’t used to show how conserva
tive each candidate is,” Schafer said.
“We feel like the regents would be
more willing to support this issue
when they don’t have to worry about a
pending re-election.”
Schafer was also instrumental in
getting the university to look into mak
ing domestic partner benefits available
to UNL students.
Natalie Hoover, a past ASUN sen
ator, and Angela Clements, a current
ASUN senator, also lent their support,
Schafer said.
Schafer said UNUs new health care
plan is an important building block
toward domestic partner benefits.
“If domestic partner benefits are
included in the health care package, it
would be a positive precedent for
achieving that same right for our facul
ty,” Schafer said.
The topic of domestic partner ben
efits has reared its head on a national
level, as well.
In mid-December, the Vermont
Supreme Court ruled that gay couples
should be given the same benefits as
married couples.
Tuesday, the Vermont State
Legislature approved civil unions, a
legal substitute for marriage. The gov
ernor of Vermont signed the bill into
law on Wednesday.
Wolf said that support will only
help the struggle for domestic partner
benefits at UNL.
“It gives us something to point to,”
he said. “But in places like Nebraska,
it’s slow going. Political leaders don’t
seem to have the courage to speak out
on what they know to be so.”
But Wolf said the past year has
been encouraging to him.
“It’s been a surprise,” he said. “In
die past, it has largely been just mem
bers of the GLBT community fighting
for this. But suddenly, all sorts of other
people are joining in.
“Hopefully in 10 or 15 years, peo
ple will look back and wonder what all
of this stir was about.”
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