Mont. Court: Gays Due Benefits Others Get

[Rose Siding]

HELENA, Mont. -- A divided Montana Supreme Court declared Thursday that the state constitution's guarantee of equal protection extends to gays, and ruled that the state university system must offer same-sex couples the same health benefits available to heterosexual ones.

In a 4-3 decision, the justices struck down the university's policy of denying benefits to employees' gay partners.

The high court said the policy violates the Montana Constitution's guarantee of equal protection because unmarried heterosexual partners could get the benefit by signing a common-law marriage affidavit, while unmarried gay partners could not.
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"These two groups, although similarly situated in all respects other than sexual orientation, are not treated equally and fairly," the court said.

In a dissent, Justice Jim Rice said the court had radically altered common-law marriage in Montana, and reached "the dewpoint of duplicity" in contending it did not do so.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-montana-gays,0,4950202.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines