As Tampa Bay residents cheer for their LGBT brothers and sisters in Orlando celebrating that city's newly implemented Domestic Partnership Registry, many here are wondering when similar protections will arrive in the western part of the state.
The registry in Orlando protects unmarried couples”gay and straight”concerning hospital visitation, funeral arrangements and more. (For full coverage in Orlando, see page 9.)
Currently, no cities in Tampa Bay offer such registries, and many residents in the area are watching Orlando with pride”and plenty of envy.
“I think that Tampa and St. Petersburg are definitely places where activists and advocates can get domestic partnership registries started,” said Joe Saunders, state field director with Equality Florida. “We've heard from people on the ground in Tampa Bay and what they've seen in Orlando fires them up.”
Saunders added that other communities are inspired by the changes in Orlando and the continuing battle in Orange County, but is quick to share that change takes time.
“It doesn't help to put a time stamp on it,” Saunders explained. “The theme of my experience in this field is sometimes we have the wrong expectations and assumptions. For example, five years ago I never would have thought the City of St. Cloud would create domestic partnership benefits for its employees. But they did it and Osceola County did it. We can't time things, but we need to put teams in place to change public policy.”
In St. Petersburg, there have been strives toward equality. The St. Petersburg Police Department offers domestic partnership benefits to same-sex and opposite-sex unmarried partners on the force. In 2008, the Pinellas County Commission extended its Human Rights Ordinance to protect gay and lesbian residents.
But not even a mention of a domestic partnership registry has been presented.
“It is something I support and I don't need to be convinced it's a good thing,” said St. Petersburg city councilman Steve Kornell. “It's a great idea, we just need to figure out how to make it happen.”
Tampa has a long history of being LGBT-friendly, thanks to the work of former mayor Pam Iorio and the continuing support of Mayor Bob Buckhorn. The city offers domestic partnership benefits to its employees. But the more conservative Hillsborough County seems much cooler to the idea of inclusion. In fact, that county's commission voted in 1995 to eliminate protections for gays and lesbians in 1995, just a year after sexual orientation was approved for inclusion into the Human Rights Ordinance. Years later, commissioner Ronda Storms led a campaign to “ban” gay Pride events from the county.
Attempts to reach Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner for this story were unsuccessful.
Kornell, who is St. Petersburg's first openly gay elected official and who won re-election in November, said a domestic partnership registry speaks volumes to individuals and companies hoping to relocate.
“It says, “Come here, your employees will be welcome,'” Kornell said of a domestic partnership registry. “We need to get chamber people and a coalition behind this.”
Kornell added that organizations need to start a movement and present the idea of the registry to the city council or the county commission.
“Every time we do something like that, it makes the city and county look good,” he said.
Saunders agrees.
“Cities and communities are looking around and seeing that these other areas are doing it,” he said. “That's when they realize that if they don't follow suit, they'll be at a competitive disadvantage.”
Of course, in a tight economy like the current one, the first questions most elected leaders have are based on financial information.
Saunders said that by using the model in Orlando, communities in Tampa Bay and around Florida have little to be worried about financially.
“There is almost no fiscal impact,” Saunders explained. “Couples pay to register. It's just like paying to get a marriage license. You go to city clerk, pay $30, pay for the administrative fee and the paper, and the amount a city or county has spent is extremely minimal.”
Saunders added that there's even a chance for communities to profit from domestic partnership registries.
“There is an immeasurable economic impact,” Saunders said. “People want to move where they can be comfortable and happy and companies want to relocate to areas where their employees can be happy and productive.”
The key to making a domestic partnership registry a reality, however, starts at the grassroots movement. Saunders said a tight team of experienced, knowledgeable people at the core is the key to success and are influencing policy makers and elected officials to step up and make registries happen.
“They're seeing there's support and realizing it's the right thing to do,” Saunders said. “And it's not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do.”
