The Salt Lake City Council fired the first shot in a looming battle for domestic partners’ rights.

The council placed a unanimous vote yesterday to approve Mayor Ralph Becker’s domestic partnership registry, which would enable domestic partners to receive insurance benefits. However, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, the state’s legislature is preparing to introduce a bill to block the registry before it gets posted. In fact, the bill would also eliminate the city’s adult-designee ordinance, which gives health care benefits to the domestic partners of city employees.

“There’s some pretty direct, harsh stuff in there,” Becker said of the legislation, vowing to stop the bill. “I’ll work it. I’m not afraid to go up there.”

Council members say they are in negotiation with Buttars and other state lawmakers to find some compromise. And since the bill “just popped up,” Becker says he does not know how Republican leadership or the rank and file will act.
Meanwhile, council members insist the registry – it applies only to residents of Salt Lake City – does not violate Amendment 3 by establishing marriage or by creating a second class of relationships.
“It doesn’t change state law. It doesn’t amend state law,” said Councilman Eric Jergensen. The registry, he added, simply provides a mechanism for employers to provide benefits to people who work for them. “I don’t know, frankly, what could be wrong with that.”
Council members note city attorneys were careful to craft language that does not run afoul of Amendment 3, the provision of the Utah Constitution that prohibits same-sex marriage. And they say the registry is a “logical extension” of the city’s adult-designee measure.
“This is a complementary ordinance that recognizes families and support systems don’t always come in one package,” said Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love, who made Tuesday’s motion.

Openly gay Utah Rep. Jackie Biskupski spoke at a brief public hearing to urge the city council to approve the registry.