Assembly OKs Rights Bill for Unwed Couples : Legislation: The Democratic measure could benefit the state’s half-million cohabitants, including gay couples. An uncertain fate awaits it in the Senate.

Without a vote to spare, the Assembly on Tuesday approved legislation allowing gay and other unmarried couples to officially register their relationships with the state and share rights now enjoyed by married couples.

A 41-26 Democrat-Republican vote, the exact margin needed for approval, sent the bill by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.

The measure would establish a legal framework for domestic partnerships, require hospitals to grant partner visitation rights and change state law relating to wills and conservatorships.

Couples registering with the secretary of state would have to be older than 18, not related by blood, agree to share joint living expenses, and not have been part of another domestic relationship for six months.

“This bill is critical to the half-million people who live together in California and need to know they can rely on their partner in an emergency,” Katz said, noting that the bill affects more than just gay couples. “What it does is let people who care about each other take care of each other in emergencies. It relates to hospital visits, conservatorships and willing property. These are three basic rights that all people ought to have.”

But opponents of the bill charged that it would condone homosexuality, erode the sanctity of marriage and demean family values.

“The real purpose of this bill is to establish a state-sanctioned relationship for all people, but particularly for the homosexual community, that is equal to marriage,” said Assemblyman Bernie Richter (R-Chico). “It is an obvious attempt to (make) legitimate the homosexual lifestyle.”

“This bill will encourage same-sex marriages and is against morality,” declared Assemblyman Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia).

But a supporter, Assemblywoman Julie Bornstein (D-Palm Desert) replied: “Adam and Eve had no clergy to marry them, but they had a committed relationship. This bill is reasonable and humane and falls in line with biblical tradition.”

“This is not a same-sex marriage bill; it is not even close,” Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco) said.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) predicted that 20 years from now people will look back and say the debate on the bill was “rather silly” because some Assembly members will be openly gay.

Katz said the 1990 federal census showed that there were 495,223 unmarried couples living together in California, including 93% opposite-sex couples, 7% same-sex couples and 35,218 senior citizen couples, about 7% of the total number of unmarried partners.

“There are tens of thousands of senior citizens who live together for companionship or don’t marry because it’s much harder to live on one Social Security check than on the benefits provided to two individuals,” Katz said. “But these couples rely on each other every day for comfort and support.

After the Assembly vote, Katz said he expected another “very close vote” in the Senate where the votes of 21 of the 40 members will be required for approval.

Roger Coggan of Los Angeles, co-chairman of the LIFE AIDS Lobby, which helped sponsor the measure, said the group will “redouble (its) efforts in the Senate and get this bill on the governor’s desk before the legislative summer recess. If enacted, this would be the first domestic partnership registration law in any state in the U.S.”