…but one that is not entirely unexpected.
It seems that the Boston Globe is announcing a change in their domestic partner benefits coverage for gay employees. Specifically, they will no longer be extending coverage for unammried gay domestic partners as of January 1, 2007. From a recent story in the Boston Herald:
Benefits for domestic partners were originally offered to gay employees because they couldn’t legally marry, said Ilene Robinson Sunshine, a lawyer at Sullivan & Worcester.
Now that gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts companies that offer benefits to gay employees’ partners risk hearing cries of discrimination from unmarried straight couples.
I am curious to find out how the GBLT community is reacting to this news. I, myself, think it’s an entirely logical position to take, and not from the “mitigating legal risk” viewpoint. I find the timing interesting — is it just that gay marriage has weathered all current legal challenges, so legal departments are starting to feel confident in making policy changes that assume it’s going to be around for a while?
I hope they’re making that assumption… Anyway, yeah, it’s totally logical. When the option of marriage is there, and wasn’t before… Well!