Gay Workers in Silicon Valley to Push for Benefits
SAN JOSE —
Boosted by Lotus Development Corp.’s decision to extend benefits to gay and lesbian couples, Silicon Valley groups said they would press their fledgling civil rights movement for homosexual workers.
“This is what we’ve been striving for years,” said Don Nelson, a Lockheed Corp. employee and president of High-Tech Gays, a 500-member organization in the Santa Clara Valley, about 30 miles south of San Francisco.
On Friday, Lotus announced that it would allow workers with same-sex partners to qualify for benefits offered to employees’ spouses, such as medical and dental care, vision and hearing coverage and bereavement leave.
