Columbia group advocates for domestic partner registry

The registry will ensure visitation rights and employee benefit plans.

By Eva Dou

Published Feb. 23, 2009

When the Columbia chapter of the Missouri's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy group PROMO was losing membership last year, Bruce Alspaugh said he had an idea of how to reinvigorate it.

"The way to get the chapter reenergized is to get everyone working for a cause that we can achieve," said Alspaugh, who is a member of Personal Rights of Missourians.

That cause became the proposed Columbia domestic partnership registry, which is up for a City Council vote on April 6. The registry would list some basic rights and suggested benefits for domestic partners 18 and older. Both homosexual and heterosexual couples who live together could register for a $50 fee.

The group's members emphasized the rights offered by the registry were a far cry from the legal benefits of marriage.

"Does anyone have any concept of how miniscule this is compared to the rights of marriage?" David Huddlestonsmith said, which was met with nods from the audience at Monday night's PROMO meeting.

The ordinance suggests hospitals use the registry as proof of a relationship to allow partners visitation rights and for employers to provide partners with employee benefit plans.

Some Columbia businesses already offer partners health insurance benefits, such as Boone Hospital Center and Carfax Inc., Alspaugh said. MU does not offer these benefits, although Columbia does.

Three other municipalities already have domestic partnership registries: St. Louis County, Kansas City and Jackson County.

At the meeting at the Columbia Public Library, about a dozen PROMO members and community supporters talked about ways to increase support for the registry in the weeks before the council's decision.

A letter-writing campaign aimed at council members was planned to show the community's support of the measure.

So far, the group has contacted five of the seven members of the council, all of whom have expressed support for the proposal, Alspaugh said.

The group has not yet talked to Second Ward Councilman Chris Janku and Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser.

Mayor Darwin Hindman has expressed support for the registry and offered to present it to the council, Alspaugh said.

Columbia resident Travis Lauhoff said he supports the proposal.

"Me and my boyfriend want to get approved so we can have the same sort of rights," Lauhoff said.

Lauhoff said he moved to Columbia in October to escape discrimination in his hometown, Marceline.

"I've had people try to burn my apartment, people try to run my car off the road, people try to run me over while I was crossing the street, all because I was gay," he said.

If the ordinance is enacted, Lauhoff said he would register with his boyfriend, Jason Barber, so that if something happened to him, Barber would have a part in the legal or medical decisions.

"It seems like a just step to take," Columbia resident Hoyt DeVane said. "There are plenty of people I know that this ordinance would affect in a substantial way."

One attendee brought up a concern with the registry.

"Overall, it's a step in the right direction, but I'm concerned about misuse of this register," said a sociology student at the meeting, who identified himself as Joe. "I'm afraid it will turn sort of into a hit list."

Joe declined to give his full name because he said he feared for his safety.

The draft ordinance will be introduced at the March 16 council meeting. The public hearing and vote will be at the April 6 meeting.