Kissimmee considers domestic partner benefits for city employees
When the Kissimmee City Commission votes on a proposal to extend domestic partner benefits to city employees, the central Florida city may join the growing number of municipalities in the Sunshine State that legally recognize long-term same-sex relationships.
Commissioner Cheryl Grieb has championed the effort to extend benefits to both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners working for the city who meet certain criteria. Though the openly lesbian lawmaker said some of her supporters expressed concern over her proposal’s timing, with her re-election to the commission up for vote in August, Grieb said the protections are needed now more than ever. She said she wanted to introduce the proposal since she first took office in 2006.
"Because of the economy the way it is right now, if we can help even one employee with a domestic partnership with these benefits, and they’re less stressed for the ’What if’s,’ it’s the right thing to do," Grieb told EDGE. "This is a health care and equality issue."
The proposal, which could come up for a vote in two weeks, would allow city employees to purchase insurance for their domestic partners after proving they live together, share a house or lease under their names and sign affidavits. The proposal is now in the hands of the city manager and awaiting the full commission’s vote.
Grieb’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by certain religious groups in the area. Modesto Vega, an assistant pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Renuevo in Kissimmee, told the Oscoela News-Gazette he specifically opposed the proposal’s protections for same-sex couples.
"It’s beyond principals and moral life," he said before accusing Grieb of pushing an "agenda" while on the commission.
According to Grieb, who spoke with the pastor the day he and roughly 20 others protested outside City Hall, Vega sees Kissimmee’s action as a step toward the recognition of marriage for same-sex couples in the state.
"He explained to me that if the city processed this, it would spread across the state, we’ll all pass same-sex marriage and he’ll be forced to marry gay couples in his church," Grieb said. "But I don’t have that power and that’s not my master plan. I want what’s best for my employees."
In support of the domestic partner benefits in Kissimmee, Equality Florida issued an action alert urging Floridians to urge city commissioners to pass the proposal. Grieb said the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. And she is hopeful her colleagues will pass her measure.
"I believe we have the votes to make this happen," Grieb added. "We have the best employees around, so why not improve their situation in any way we can, to make them more productive, happier and healthier?"
Joe Saunders, field director of Equality Florida, sees this issue as important from a statewide perspective, as Kissimmee is adjacent to the country’s largest single-site employer: Walt Disney World. It is also a mostly rural area known for its conservative-leaning politics. Alan Chambers, founder of Exodus International, and his family live in nearby St. Cloud, but Saunders shares Grieb’s confidence.
"Everything I’m hearing is that we are overpowering our opponents in terms of our overall support for this push," he said. "I shout out to [Grieb] and her commitment to passing this policy."
Meanwhile, those opposed to the proposal are expected to continue their protests this week.
A number of other municipalities in the state - including Broward and West Palm Beach Counties and the cities of Miami and Tallahassee - already extend benefits to domestic partners. A bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Eleanor Sobel (D-Hallandale) and Rep. Richard Steinberg (D-Miami Beach,) was introduced in Tallahassee earlier this year. While legislators did not debate the bill last year, but Sobel is confident it will fare better during the upcoming legislative session.
"I will keep refiling this bill as many times as it takes to have it heard and passed," Sobel wrote in a statement to EDGE. "I believe we live in the greatest country in the world and it saddens me that civil union/domestic partnership has become a civil rights battle in Florida and many states throughout the United States. It is time for all Floridians to be accepted and respected for who they are."
