The El Paso City Council voted 7-1 yesterday to allow unmarried couples the right to receive health benefits. That means the partners of gay city employees can now receive equivalent care to the partners of married heterosexuals. According to an El Paso Times article:
The decision means that live-in partners of unmarried municipal employees will
qualify for city medical coverage for the first time.
More than 40 people spoke
before council members voted 7-1 in favor of the benefit program. Northeast city Rep. Carl L. Robinson
dissented.
City Hall was tense as the crowd of speakers formed
to try to lobby the council one last time. Mayor John Cook warned visitors
against using hateful terms or inflammatory language.
Of course people are arguing that it's just a reaction to the recent bad publicity about an incident at Chico's Tacos. But who cares? If the "915" city council does the right thing, it doesn't really matter why.
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