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Posted By: Gay & Lesbians United Against Discrimination Hosted By:: Equality Arizona staff and volunteers When: Wednesday Dec 17, 2008 at 3:00 PM Where: City Council Chambers 200 W Jefferson Street Phoenix, AZ 85003 United States View Map

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We just received a note from Equality Arizona--- Equality Arizona is proud to announce that the Phoenix City Council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on an ordinance to recognize domestic partnerships in the City of Phoenix. Please show your support by attending the meeting on Wednesday, December 17th at 3 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 200 W Jefferson, Phoenix, and please call or email your council member and Mayor Phil Gordon to let them know you support the domestic partnership ordinance that will help unmarried couples, gay or straight, take care of each other. Your voice needs to be heard. Already, the same people who led the effort to pass Prop 102 have organized to oppose this ordinance, which would grant hospital visitation rights to registered domestic partners. That is, the domestic partner of a person in the hospital would be allowed to visit during family hours, giving them the ability to be with and support their loved one during these difficult times in each other's lives. We all know that Arizonans are currently divided on the issue of marriage, but that does not mean that the people of Arizona want to make it hard for gay couples to care for each other. In fact, most Arizonans, including a majority of Phoenicians, support ordinances like the one before the Phoenix City Council that would help unmarried couples take care of each other. Please make your voice heard, and encourage your friends, neighbors and family members who live in Phoenix to do the same. Remember? 1) Call or email Mayor Phil Gordon and your council member now. Visit http://phoenix.gov/mayorcouncil/index.html to find their number. To find your council district, visit http://phoenix.gov/mayorcouncil/districtmap/index.html 2) Attend the meeting on Wednesday, December 17th at 3 p.m. in City Council Chamber, 200 W Jefferson Street. Equality Arizona staff and volunteers will be onsite to hand out buttons and help collect comment cards. We have worked with our partners to coordinate speakers to testify on behalf of the ordinance. We ask that when you attend, you complete a comment card to register your opinion, indicating you do not wish to speak on the ordinance. To respect the time of everyone involved, we ask that we all allow our community representatives to speak on behalf of us in support of the ordinance. This will earn the respect and appreciation of the council members who will be voting on the ordinance.

From Equality Arizona:

"I am thrilled to announce that the Phoenix City Council voted today to adopt an ordinance to recognize domestic partnerships in the City of Phoenix. By a vote of 6 to 0, with 3 members absent, the council approved the creation of a domestic partner registry for Phoenix residents, granting unmarried gay or straight couples in committed relationships the right to visit each other in the hospital.

By recognizing domestic partnerships, the Phoenix City Council removed some of the barriers that have prevented unmarried couples, gay or straight, from being able to take care of each other. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to be told that you couldn't visit your loved one in the hospital or hold your partner's hand before they went into surgery. Unfortunately, that's a story we hear and experience all too often.

We are thankful that the members of the Phoenix City Council have taken this important step to help unmarried couples in committed relationships take care of each other. The six members who voted for the ordinance were Mayor Phil Gordon, Councilman Tom Simplot, Councilman Greg Stanton, Councilman Michael Nowakowski, Councilman Michael Johnson and Councilman Claude Mattox.

The ordinance takes effect on February 9, 2009, at which time the Phoenix City Clerk's office will begin accepting registrations for domestic partnerships. We will continue to work in partnership with our allies on the council, including Mayor Gordon, Councilman Simplot, Councilman Stanton, Councilman Nowakowski and others, to ensure Phoenix residents are able to register on the first day of implementation. We will post updates on the preparations for that day on our website. You can stay informed by visiting www.equalityarizona.org.

For equality,
Sam Holdren
Public Affairs Director"