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Public Hearing on Domestic Partnership Registry Reveals Majority Support
Most urge County Executive to support Local Law
by Margaret Sternberg
Little more than three weeks after the County Legislature took the first step toward the creation of a domestic partner registry within Putnam County, County Executive Bob Bondi held a public hearing on June 25, 2008 to take the public's pulse on what was expected to be, and was, a controversial topic.
Some participants expressed disappointment that Deputy County Executive John Tully presided over the hearing, although Mr. Tully explained that an unexpected family commitment had prevented Mr. Bondi from attending.
Mr. Bondi was also criticized for having ostensibly sent invitations for the public hearing only to churches. When the PCN&R asked Mr. Bondi to explain, he said that he had also sent invitations to Justices of the Peace, who had declined to attend. According to Mr. Bondi, the Chief Judge of the Magistrates Association had said they would not comment on local law. Mr. Bondi elaborated that he had sent invitations to the people who "perform ceremonies…that provide the services that bind people together in a domestic partnership, also known as marriage, that makes them experts in domestic partnership."
Although commentary was kept respectful, much of the argument between those for and those against approval lay in whether one believed that the partner registry was a civil rights issue or a religious issue, and even pastors broke ranks as some expressed fervent hope that the registry be made into law while others adamantly opposed the registry, predicting moral dissolution.
Cold Spring resident David Juhren said the issue was "neither straight nor gay," but was inclusive of all couples within the county in committed relationships. He said the registry would help hospitals, nursing homes and similar facilities to be able to certify that a visitor is in fact the domestic partner of a patient, helping to align the county with, according to Juhren, a state law passed in 2004. He also said that the law will help businesses that offer domestic partner benefits to certify who is eligible for the benefits. "It's just good business."
Hilda Brown, a Putnam County resident for 19 years, who has been with her partner "for almost four decades" applauded the Legislature for passing the local law, although she termed it "woefully inadequate," criticizing it for creating a "separate but unequal type of arrangement." Despite that, she said that people needed to remember that "in the United States, we have a separation between Church and State, and relationships between consenting adults is covered by civil law. People are entitled to their opinions and their religious beliefs, but they're not entitled to impose those beliefs on everyone." She said that to be told that she and her partner cannot have the same rights as every other citizen and legal resident of the County, State and Country is "inequitable."
Jerry Ravnitzky, of Mahopac, also applauded the Legislature for passing the Legislation, saying that he "didn't think that people should be discriminated against on the basis of how they were born, and that's what it amounts to. It is no more right to discriminate against people on the basis of their committed relationships, whether with male or female, than it is to discriminate against people who have blue eyes or black hair. It's just a matter of civil rights under the law…It's a matter of equal rights."
Judy Allen, from Putnam Valley, read a letter from Craig Lucas, also a resident of Putnam Valley, who was unable to attend the meeting. Lucas' impassioned letter said that he believed that the taxes he pays "earn me and my partner of ten years all the same rights as our heterosexual neighbors." Lucas decried the fact that he and his partner do not now enjoy guaranteed hospital visitation rights, inheritance rights or tax benefits, calling all "rights," not "privileges." Lucas' letter also took aim at those who would say the issue was religious, not civil, excoriating those whose religion "gives you the impression you have more rights than gay people, that you are somehow better, a superior citizen, more entitled than we are…"
Pastor Tony Kober of the New Life Christian Church in Putnam Lake said he was "totally against this [and] what this stands for." He called the legislation "an end, around run of marriage as it's been defined," Pastor Kober said that " as long as we're still pledging that we're 'a nation under God' I believe we should pay attention to what God says is right and what's wrong." Pastor Kober questioned "where the County has the authority to undermine marriage this way," saying that the local law gives "all the privileges of marriage without responsibility.
Pastor Kober also implicitly accused couples interested in availing themselves of the registry of having "no real commitment here, except the person signs an affidavit, which is only good in this county." Kober said the law allows couples to walk away and said he only sees the registry as promoting a weakening of marriage laws.
Pastor Brian McIntyre, of the Lakeview Community Church, Dr. Phil Gauthier of the Hope in Life Church, and Dr. Larry Maxwell of the Patterson Baptist Church agreed with Kober, raising issues as diverse as children's welfare, the demise of the family, and financial burdens increasing within the county.
Some flatly objected to gay unions of any type, moving from the simple registry up for discussion into jeremiads on the death of marriage, prophesying that "religious freedom is at stake - requiring citizens to sanction or subsidize homosexual relationships violates the freedoms of conscience of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and other people who believe marriage is only the union of the two sexes. The definition of what marriage is will be destroyed…Once the standard of a one man, one woman marriage is broken, there is no logical stopping point…we dare not travel down that dangerous road…" One called the matter " a civil issue, the death of civilization."
Ms. Brown later responded to the pastors who had given statistics on high divorce rates and had spoken about gay couples threatening the sanctity and future of marriage, eliciting laughter when she noted that "heterosexual couples can do that all by themselves."
Despite comments by the majority of pastors against the legislation, several pastors supported its passage wholeheartedly. Pastor Ken Mast of the First Presbyterian Church in Mahopac Falls said that he supported the legislation, adding that on a national level the Presbyterian, Episcopal, United Methodist, and Lutheran Churches "have all expressed support for civil rights legislation for all people. This is a civil matter; there is no official theology, and…within the religious community there is great divergence of opinion…as a matter of civil rights, I appreciate this effort." Pastor Mast noted that within his own congregation, "there are people who would benefit from this legislation, and so I look forward to its passage.
Pastor Mast was joined in his support of the law by Pastor Karen Burger of Drew United Methodist Church and Pastor Martin McGeachy of Gilead Presbyterian Church.
Victor Tiship likened the controversy to the fight for equal rights waged in the 1960's in the South, saying "as in the sixties, some within the Church supported civil rights; some remained bigoted. Today, it seems, that's still the case with gay rights. When people claim to interpret the Word of God and make that part of public policy…religion should not be forced on other of our citizens. Equal rights is (sic) a right for all of us, both gay and straight."
Rockland County has had a domestic partner registry since 2006, and Westchester has had one since 2002.
County Executive Bondi signed the registry into law June 30. Mr. Bondi said "Throughout the entire process I kept an open mind and wanted to hear from all the parties who should be considered in this type of legislation as well as anyone who might be affected by the legislation," arriving at his decision only after the public hearing was conducted and all parties heard.
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