Census indicates need for domestic partner benefits

By T. Dean Adams, Contributing Writer

Since 1990 the number of same-sex unmarried partners sharing a household in South Carolina has increased by 613%. The U.S. Census Bureau's Census 2000 reports a major increase in same-sex unmarried couples throughout the country. One in every six households in America received the Census Bureau's "long form," which reports "unmarried partners living in the same household" as well as the sex of the partners.

According to David M. Smith, communication director and senior strategist for the Human Rights Campaign, the census results do not reflect a growth in the number of gay and lesbian couples, but instead indicate that same-sex couples are now more comfortable revealing their status to demographers.

The census figures provide new information for companies regarding the labor pool and draw attention to the issues of including sexual orientation in a non-discrimination hiring policy and offering benefits to domestic partners. National companies that offer domestic partner benefits and/or include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies usually do so at all of their offices or branches, including those in South Carolina.

Furman University, located in Greenville, South Carolina, recently announced plans to offer domestic partner benefits. Thirteen percent of employers in the U. S. offer domestic partner benefits, according to a 1997 survey by KPMG Peat Marwick.

Only five companies in South Carolina provide domestic partner benefits.

"In 1982 the first domestic partner benefits were offered," says Linda Ketner, president of the board of the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA), an organization working for equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons in South Carolina. "Now there are 4,267 businesses nationwide that offer them. That is huge growth."

Communications Access Network Inc., a local business that supplies interpreter services for deaf speakers, provides domestic partner benefits.

According to company President Darryl Crouse, they are a great recruiting tool. "In the interpreter industry it's a standard practice. Deaf people have suffered and continue to suffer discrimination," he says. "Gays and lesbians have the same background. They both understand what it feels like to be discriminated against."

Crouse also sees domestic partner benefits as an asset for employee retention. "One somewhat extreme example is if an employee's spouse is sick and is covered by insurance, then the employee can afford to do whatever is needed to care for the spouse and get back to work," he says. "If we didn't cover the domestic partner of an employee and the partner got sick, we might lose the employee because of his/her need to care for their partner."

CAN Inc. reports no problems related to offering domestic partner benefits and uses the insurance company Fortis for its employee plan.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, though there have been no known reports of fraud in the two-decade history of domestic partner benefits, some companies use fraud as an argument for not offering them. However, employees must sign a legally binding statement to declare the partnership is valid - which can be used to exact repayment if fraud is discovered. Married heterosexual couples could just as easily commit fraud, since they are rarely asked to provide proof of marriage.

"If you want a real team of employees then everyone must be treated the same," Crouse advises other companies considering domestic benefits. "To have a harmonious team all people must be equal no matter what their race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, etc. We all move forward or no one moves forward."