Winston-Salem officials waiting for court rulings in wake of marriage amendment's passage

[xchrom]

http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/may/15/wsmain01-winston-salem-officials-waiting-for-court-ar-2278541/


Winston-Salem city officials have, for the past year, discussed offering domestic-partner benefits to city employees. The conversations were tentative and part of a larger debate about how to lower the city's health insurance costs.

But after last Tuesday's primary, when voters chose to amend the state constitution to define marriage as only between "one man and one woman" — effectively cementing the state's ban on gay marriage — city officials now say that their authority to offer those benefits could be "questionable."

"I think it would be appropriate for the city to wait for a court ruling before making a decision regarding the extension of health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of employees," City Attorney Angela Carmon wrote in an email. "The only way to know for certain is to wait for a court ruling on the matter."

The amendment to the state constitution passed with about 61 percent of the votes last week. The state already has a law banning same-sex marriage; the amendment writes that ban into the state constitution.

[William769]

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