Orlando Buddy Dyer held up his end of the bargain and sent a proposed draft ordinance for establishing a domestic partner registry to Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs this week.
Gay rights activists had pressed both mayors for a registry over the summer, but Jacobs said her policy plate was too full. So Dyer took up the cause and said he would look into the issue, and report back to Jacobs in the fall.
Here’s the draft proposal Dyer’s team sent Jacobs Tuesday. Now the ball is in Jacobs’ political court.
The county mayor is in Brazil on a trade mission with Gov. Rick Scott, but Jacobs had said previously she would consider bringing the city’s work on the issue to county commissioners for consideration this year.
Advocates say that a number of same- and opposite-sex couples don’t have the same hospital, death and school privileges that married couples enjoy. A registry that officially recorded such relationships could be helpful when minor and major emergencies arise, especially for same-sex couples who are barred from marrying in Florida.
Opponents say the registry is not needed, and securing certain legal forms can solve these issues. Gay rights activists say that the added, costly legal paperwork amounts to discrimination, and doesn’t always work.
Dyer and the activists argue it would be ideal to pass an ordinance that applied countywide, and not over a patchwork of cities.
