NGRA recently sued a travel agency, alleging it awarded a California gay man a vacation package and then withdrew the offer, telling him only married or cohabitating heterosexual couples were eligible. LLDEF filed a $1-million suit against the New York City Board of Education for its refusal to allow lesbian and gay employees to add domestic partners to their health and dental benefits.
“It makes sense that . . . domestic partner relationships should be equally compensated,” said LLDEF staff attorney Paula Ettelbrick. “Otherwise, my heterosexual married counterpart is getting paid more than I am.” . . .
“Lesbian and gay family issues are really . . . the next frontier, the next area of focus for this movement,” predicted Sue Hyde, a staff member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. As the first generation of post-Stoneswall gay activists has aged, “we’re beginning to feel in very personal ways . . . the negative effects of the lack of recognition of our relationships and the totally arbitrary ways that we’re dealt with when we go into custody cases or battles . . .[over] illness or death of our lovers.”
