By Diane Silver
Today is the day the Lawrence City Commission will begin its deliberations on a proposed domestic partner registry.
If approved, this would be the first registry of its kind in Kansas, but Lawrence would actually be playing catch-up to other Midwestern cities. Domestic partner registries are already in place in Kansas City, Mo.; Iowa City, Iowa; Boulder, Colo.; and Madison, Wis.
The proposal is being championed by the Lawrence Chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition.
The Lawrence Journal-World makes it sound like the City Commission will make the decision at today's meeting. I was under the impression that the proposal would only be up for a little discussion and then would be sent off for more study. However, anything is possible when a governmental body meets.
The newspaper reports that only four of the five commissioners will be attending tonight's meeting. Two of the four have said they support a registry. The proposal needs three votes to pass.
The meeting starts at 6:35 tonight. Be there.
A note on my headline: A domestic partner registry would provide no rights, and thus it wouldn't come even close to bringing legal fairness to the lives of same-sex couples. However, it is a start. I decided to use my rather strongly worded headline because a start is better than nothing, and a registry could have a tangible effect on the lives of our families.
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The two undecided commissioners are David Schaneur and Mike Amyx.
Schauner's number is 842-7459 and Amyx's is 843-3089. A polite message urging their support left on their machine's certainly won't hurt, I don't think.
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