Times Change: Council Approves Domestic Partner Benefits

On November 21, 2013,  Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council unanimously approved a resolution extending benefits to what are commonly referred to as “domestic partners” of our employees.  (More on that terminology below.)  After the vote, one council member, who might at one time might have found this hard to support, commented: “Times change.”

Yes, they do.  And in this case the change is for the better.  I posted an earlier blog on this issue and will not repeat the reasons why I felt this deserved support.  But I do wish to note that this vote tells me that as a community we are moving steadily toward assuring fair and equal treatment for all our residents.  Dr. King has famously noted that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”  This vote reflects that principle, and makes me proud of my community.

I wish I could say the same for our Commonwealth on this issue.  The official language of our resolution uses “qualified adult” and studiously avoids the term “domestic partner” which is simpler and clearer.  Why?  Legal reasons, reflecting prohibitions in state statutes and ordinances regarding the establishment of any legal alternatives to marriage.

Times have changed in Lexington and a few other communities in Kentucky.  And times have changed in many other states and at the federal level.  But they have not changed quite so much at the state level in Kentucky. We have to wait a bit longer for the moral arc of the universe to complete its work.  We know it will.