Lines are expected to form outside the Tampa City Clerk's office on Monday, June 25 as couples begin registering as domestic partners beginning at 9 a.m. The office, located on the third floor of Old City Hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., does not provide appointments, so large, celebratory crowds are expected.
The city became the first along Florida's West Coast to approve a domestic partnership registry when the council unanimously approved it in March. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn signed the ordinance shortly thereafter.
“This is an opportunity to ensure that all citizens of the City of Tampa have the same basic rights,” Buckhorn said. “This is a community that treats everyone with dignity.”
The Tampa registry, modeled after the one in Orlando, produced no controversy when it was introduced in council chambers in February. It allows partners, gay or straight the rights to visit each other in the hospital, make health care decisions for an incapacitated partner, be notified as a family member in an emergency affecting their partner and overseeing funeral and burial arrangements for each other.
According to the City of Tampa's website, partners must produce a driver's license or other state-issued identification so their signatures can be notarized at the Clerk's Office. Registrants can also expect to pay a $30 fee.
The neighboring cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg approved their respective domestic partnership registries on June 7.
A crowd of supporters waited throughout the morning in the St. Petersburg City Council chambers for the item to come up on the agenda”and at one moment it looked as if a vote on the ordinance would be postponed while proposed changes were considered by the council. After a short recess, however, the council came back and voted to approve the changes, which included allowing non-residents of the city to take part in the registry”which is similar to the language adopted by the City of Tampa in March.
Before the council’s decision, seven people, including the president of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters, urged the council to approve the law.
“Passing this domestic registry,” Darden Rice told the council, “would be a love letter to the entire community.”
After the vote, attendees had reason to celebrate.
“We’re very pleased the City Council gave us this right,” said Todd Richardson, of Equality Florida. “It’s a huge step for the gay community.”
Later that evening, Clearwater's City Council followed suit with a unanimous vote for the ordinance.
Both ordinances in Clearwater and St. Petersburg should take affect sometime this summer, although a specific date for registration wasn't immediately available. The registry allows for same-sex and opposite-sex unmarried couples to register with the city and provides access to hospital visitation, medical decisions and funeral planning.
