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In
a
8-4
vote,
the
Miami-Dade
County
Commission
approved
a
county-wide
domestic-partnership
registry,
providing
recognition
to
all
non-married
couples
who
register
in
the
county.
The
measure
includes
shared
health
insurance
for
county
employees,
as
well
as
family
visitation
rights
for
partners
at
county
health
care
facilities.
While
all
twelve
Miami-Dade
County
Commissioners
expressed
support
for
domestic
partnership
benefits
at
the
Commission
meeting
Tuesday,
the
measure
was
met
with
wh
at
seemed
to
be
a
thinly
-
veiled
attempt
by
Commissioner
Jose
“Pepe”
Diaz
to
derail
it
by
broadening
the
language,
thereby
postponing
the
measure
and
perhaps
never
allowing
it
to
come
to
vote.
At
the
end
of
a
ninety-minute
debate
the
commissioners
voted
to
approve
the
measure.
“We
all
know
this
has
been
a
long
time
coming,”
Commissioner
Bruno
Barreiro,
chief
sponsor
of
the
bill.
“This
is
a
darn
good
first
step,”
said
Commissioner
Sally
Heyman.
“
To
delay
it
is
irresponsible.”
About
100
gay
rights
supporters
waved
“jazz
hands”
silently
above
their
heads
(protocol,
in
lieu
of
clapping
in
the
commission
chambers)
to
celebrate
the
vote
which
makes
Miami-Dade
the
fourth--and
largest--
county
in
Florida
to
provide
domestic
partnership
benefits.
“It’s
a
good
policy
for
the
county
and
for
the
state,”
said
Heddy
Pena,
executive
director
of
SAVE.
“
It’s
a
win–win
all
the
way
for
county,
for
employees.”
But
despite
seemingly
unanimous
support
for
domestic
partnership
rights
from
the
commissioners,
the
vote
to
approve
the
ordinance
once
and
for
all
did
not
come
easy.
Commissioner
Jose
“Pepe”
Diaz
tried
to
delay
the
passage
by
amending
the
ordinance
to
include
all
family
members
into
the
measure,
citing
adults
who
raise
grandchildren.
At
one
point
he
called
the
domestic
partnership
ordinance
“reverse
discrimination.”
“I
think
the
issue
is
to
be
inclusive
and
not
set
one
group
against
another,’
Diaz
said,
making
sure
to
say
that
he
does
not
oppose
providing
domestic
partnership
rights.
But
at
a
heated
moment
in
his
speech,
Diaz
claimed
it
was
“unfair”
to
give
rights
to
one
group
and
not
another.
“If
this
were
the
other
way
around,”
he
said,
“the
‘domestic
partners’would
be
crying
discrimination.”
Commissioners
voted
against
Diaz’s
amendment,
after
a
lengthy
discussion
that
seemed
to
pit
providing
health
care
to
“families”
against
people
who
live
in
“domestic
partnerships”–
exactly
what
Diaz
said
he
did
not
intend
to
do.
However,
Commissioner
Katy
Sorenson
lambasted
the
Commission
for
considering
a
delay
on
the
registry
vote.
“This
[ordinance]
does
not
pit
anyone
against
anyone,”
said
Sorenson.
“It
corrects
an
injustice.”
Elizabeth
Schwartz,
a
Miami-Dade
family
law
attorney,
was
present
at
the
hearing
in
support
of
the
measure.
She
claims
Diaz
was
purposely
trying
to
distort
the
issue,
under
the
guise
of
politically-
correct
language.
“What
ires
them
is
legally
recognizing
[GLBT]
relationships
and
families,”
said
Schwartz.
“
To
throw
in
everyone
else
dilutes
the
issue.”
Diaz,
and
commissioners
Natacha
Seijas
and
Rebeca
Sosa,
asked
County
Attorney
R.
A.
Cuevas
to
find
a
way
to
attach
an
amendment
to
the
ordinance
include
families
into
the
resolution
to
be
voted
on
Tuesday.
Cuevas
said
the
only
way
to
amend
the
ordinance
was
by
re-
introducing
it
with
Diaz’s
suggestions,
and
thus
delaying
the
process.
After
his
amendment
was
struck
down,
Diaz
continued
to
question
county
staff
about
the
ordinance,
suggesting
that
it
was
not
properly
vetted
and
that
economic
studies
were
inadequate.At
one
point,he
suggested
changing
the
definition
of
domestic
partners
to
include
all
members
of
a
family.
“Domestic
partners
can
be
anything,”
he
said.
“
There
is
no
registered
trademark
on
domestic
partners.”
Diaz’s
attempt
to
broaden
the
definition
of
domestic
partners
mirrors
the
failed
attempt
in
the
State
Legislature
to
add
specific
language
to
protect
GLBT
students
in
the
antibullying
bill
that
was
passed
into
law
without
specific
categories.
Even
during
the
debate,
the
only
Commissioner
to
acknowledge
the
GLBT
community
was
Joe
Martinez,
who
claimed
the
rest
of
the
panel
was
dancing
around
the
fact
that
the
measure
was
“really
about
same-sex
couples,”
not
domestic
partnerships
in
general.
He
later
voted
to
postpone
the
vote;when
that
was
denied,
he
was
one
of
the
four
Commissioners
to
vote
against
the
measure.
Chip
Arndt,
of
Freedom
Democrats,
said
he
was
“”pleasantly
shocked”
to
see
the
commission’s
stance
on
GLBT
issues.
“It’s
wonderful
that
everyone
agreed
with
us
on
the
record,”
Arndt
said.
“
This
is
pure
politics.
The
big
win
was
no
commissioner
stated
they
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