Domestic Partnerships allow real-life families to be legally recognized under the law. This legal recognition will provide many families with important protections, rights and responsibilities that help families stay safe - especially during a crisis.

Finally, committed same-sex couples who are already doing the work of caring for their families can better protect each other and keep their children secure during life's tough times.

Domestic Partnerships grant important family rights we all might someday need, but certainly hope we never do – like visiting a sick partner in the hospital, taking bereavement leave, sharing joint health insurance, and inheriting the estate of a spouse.

While Domestic Partnerships are not the same as marriage, they do provide a way for committed same-sex couples to protect and care for the people they love.

We all want to take care of the people we love. But if Oregon’s new Domestic Partnership law is overturned, some Oregon families will be shut out from doing so.

Think for a moment about how it would hurt to not be able to take care of your family during a crisis.

Domestic Partnerships remove this hurt for many Oregon families. However, they are not the same as the full equality of marriage. For example, a Domestic Partnership neither requires nor allows legally sanctioned solemnization (religious blessing) – rather it is simply a binding legal contract between two people. And, unlike marriage, one person in a couple seeking a domestic partnership is required to be an Oregon resident.
 
And unlike marriages, which are honored in all states and countries, domestic partnerships are not recognized by the federal government (which means, for example, no Social Security survivor benefits or more than 1100 other rights), and the protections of a domestic partnership do not automatically travel with the family outside the borders of Oregon (not portable).

So while Oregon has not yet extended full equality to couples in same-gender relationships, Domestic Partnerships are a tremendous step forward. They simply provide a way for committed same-sex couples to protect and care for the people they love.

For more detailed information about Oregon’s new Domestic Partnership law, please click here.

In Oregon, we all deserve to live and work free from the sting of discrimination, and to be judged based on our actions – as good citizens, parents, coworkers, sons and daughters, and neighbors.

That’s a basic Oregon value – which is why most Oregonians believe that discrimination based on sexual orientation is already illegal. But until the Equality Act was recently passed, Oregon's law books did not prohibit evicting a good tenant, denying a patron service at a restaurant or even firing and employee, just because of that person's real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

This law has not yet gone into effect, so our citizens continue to experience pervasive discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, health care, education, and everyday life. In fact, research from across the country indicates that discrimination is a real and serious problem. For example, New York study found that 54% of lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents had experienced discrimination in employment, housing, or public accommodation over a five-year period, with 8% reporting that they had been fired specifically because of their sexual orientation.

That’s why nineteen other states and the District of Columbia already have laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
But because the state of Oregon had failed for so long to provide a solution to discrimination, many Oregon cities and counties moved forward locally over the years, passing ordinances to address the problem. These local laws, now on the books in 12 diverse communities from Bend to Benton County and Lincoln City to Hillsboro, have been hailed as highly beneficial and had no negative side effects.

In fact, many of Oregon’s leading businesses agree that creating clear and consistent rules for employers is good for Oregon business. That’s just one of the reasons why so many from Oregon’s business community support this law. From NIKE – Oregon’s only Fortune 500 Company – to small businesses in Central, Southern and Coastal Oregon, to the state-wide Oregon Business Association…Oregon’s business community has expressed strong support for ending discrimination.

These are all good indications that Oregon’s new statewide law is needed, and that it will work well. This law is long overdue, because discrimination is not fair and it’s not the Oregon way.

The Equality Act ensures that Oregonians won’t be fired, evicted, or denied service at a restaurant or hotel – simply because of their sexual orientation.

The Equality Act simply puts our shared value of fairness into action.