Politics & Government

Hillsborough Says 'No' to Domestic Partnership Registry

Hillsborough County Commissioners opted against pursuing a registry for same-sex partners during Thursday's meeting.

A measure that would have given same-sex partners more freedom to make medical and financial decisions for each other failed to get the support it needed from Hillsborough County Commissioners on Thursday.

The board voted 4-3 against creating a Domestic Partnership Registry for Hillsborough County.

Commissioners Al Higginbothom, Sandra Murman and Victor Crist voted against the motion. Commissioners Mark Sharpe, Kevin Beckner and Les Miller voted in favor.

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Commissioner Mark Sharpe introduced the measure.

"As a citizen who lives in this county and as tax payer aren't they owed the respect and right to have these six basic rights and services that government itself provides," Sharpe said.

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The City of Tampa approved a domestic partnership registry in April. The registry opened its rolls in June and so far 369 people have registered. Pinellas County decided to create it own registry last week. Nearby Pasco has yet to consider the issue, said Commissioner Pat Mulieri.

Sharpe suggested patterning the county's registry after Tampa's.

Tampa's registry allows the following rights to couples who register:

  • to visit his or her partner in health care facilities
  • to make certain health care decisions for his or her partner
  • to make funeral and burial decisions for his or her partner
  • to be notified as a family member in case of emergency
  • to be designated his or her partner's pre-need guardian
  • to participate in the education of his or her partner's children

The issue created a lot of discussion during the public comment portion of the meeting before the final vote.

"It is a matter of basic fairness," said Joyce Hamilton Henry, director of the ACLU’s Central Florida Regional Office. "One doesn’t have to agree that same-sex relationships are the same as heterosexual relationships to realize it is unfair to treat committed couples as strangers."

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Betty James, a Sun City resident disagreed.

"When I heard that there was a proposal being presented here to create domestic partnership registry I was stunned," James said. "My first reaction was that county commissioners who are in favor of this must be thinking that Hillsborough County adults don’t have the sense God gave a goose.

"They’re not smart enough to use the Internet to download forms for durable power of attorney or appoint a health care surrogate?" James added. "All of those things can be done (and) you don’t have to have an attorney."

To be eligible for the domestic partnership registry, couples must be unmarried adults, not committed to another person through another registry or civil union, live together, and agree to be responsible for each others basic needs.

About 16 locations in Florida have domestic partnership registries, including the City of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Gulfport, Clearwater and Pinellas County.

"My position is based squarely on my faith and personal beliefs," Higginbothom said before casting a vote against moving forward on the domestic partnership registry.

Nathan Warren, a Carrollwood Patch Facebook reader, had this reaction after news broke that the board rejected the measure:

"It's really sad, that in a time of progression - where even our president mentions us as "Gay brothers and sisters" - that Hillsborough County would slide backwards," Warren wrote. "Many of us live and work in this county. We are consumers, tax payers, business owners, we do your hair, some of us are doctors, nurses, lawyers. We exist on every level of Hillsborough County society. All we want is legal acknowledgement of our rights with our partners. Is that too much to ask?"

Carrollwood, do you agree with the commission's decision not to create a domestic registry for Hillsborough County?


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