The debate in El Paso over whether city government should provide benefits to same-sex partners of employees has gotten national attention. A Wall Street Journal story highlights the fact that a ballot measure voters approved in November to ban such benefits had the unintended consequence of kicking retirees and elected officials off the benefits wagon, too.
The measure was aimed at gay workers and their partners. The wording of the proposal, however, was vague, asking El Paso residents to endorse 'traditional family values' by limiting benefits to 'city employees and their legal spouse and dependent children.'
So when 55% of the voters approved the measure on Election Day, they eliminated coverage for some 200 people who don't fit that description—among them elected officials, who aren't technically city employees, and many former city workers, the city says.
Protestors gathered last week at Word of Life church, headed by Pastor Tom Brown, who spearheaded the referendum. He's already warned he plans another public vote to keep the city from reversing laws brought about by referendum.
"I'm feeling a call from God to get more involved in our government," Brown told the Wall Street Journal. The Dallas Voice weighs in on that call.
Contact Lee Ann O'Neal at leeann@texaswatchdog.org or 713-980-9777.
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Photo of 'Two men on a cake' by flickr user elmada, used via a Creative Commons license.
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