Registering of W. Hollywood ‘Relationships’ Proposed

In an effort aimed largely at West Hollywood’s homosexual population, Mayor Valerie Terrigno has introduced legislation that would allow unmarried couples to register their relationships with the city.

The “domestic partnership” measure, which is similar to a law enacted by the Berkeley city government last year, has been urged by homosexual activists as symbolic recognition of gay relationships. The bill’s supporters add that unmarried heterosexual couples and even unmarried senior citizens who live together could benefit from the law.

“The intention is to give some recognition to caring relationships between two people,” Terrigno said. “Allowing domestic partners to register is a way of saying that the relationship is equal to marriage in the eyes of the city.”

Under Terrigno’s definition, a domestic partnership could be registered with the city if a couple met 10 conditions, the most crucial being that the partners “share the common necessities of life” and are “responsible for each other’s welfare.”

Terrigno said she would like to see provisions in the proposed legislation protecting domestic partners from rent increases if they moved in together.

The bill was received favorably at a council meeting last week, but questions raised by several council members about the definition of a domestic partner indicate that the measure may undergo some changes.

Councilman Steve Schulte suggested that domestic partners be required to live together for a period of time before they are allowed to register with the city, “to show that they have some kind of commitment.”

Terrigno opposed a time limit.

“What does it matter whether people have known each other for six minutes or six months?,” she asked.

Senior-citizen activists said elderly, unmarried couples who live together to pool financial resources and look after each other might qualify as domestic partners.

“You hear a lot of seniors complaining that when they move in together in an apartment, the landlord raises their rent,” said Janet Witkin, the executive director of Alternative Living for the Aged, a group that encourages the elderly to live together as an alternative to old-age homes. “If they had the same rights as a married couple, they might be able to protect themselves against that.”

The bill would have even greater impact on the lives of unmarried West Hollywood city government employees. Terrigno said a commission on financial benefits for city employees is already searching for an insurance firm that would be willing to provide medical and dental coverage to domestic partners, as well as married couples.

Finding such an open-minded insurance company may not be easy. Berkeley City Manager Daniel Boggan Jr. said he is still trying to find such a firm. The Berkeley domestic partnership law, passed last December, covers 1,200 city employees.