FL: Gay-rights foes vow to act against Miami-Dade County domestic partners proposal

Link: Miami Herald

Excerpt:

Opponents of a domestic partnership proposal in Miami-Dade government threatened county commissioners with political retribution at a news conference Friday.

''Every commissioner who does vote for the proposal will be held accountable,'' said Anthony Verdugo, executive director of the Christian Family Coalition.

The bill would give all Miami-Dade residents the right to visit their partner in jails and hospitals. It would also allow county employees to buy insurance coverage for their partner and that partner's children.

A final vote on the package will likely come May 20, but it already has six cosponsors on the 13-member commission and appears to have at least the one remaining vote it needs for approval.

''I think this is a matter of justice and equality and compassion and common sense,'' said Commissioner Katy Sorenson, one of the bill's sponsors, at a committee hearing last month.

Such programs are increasingly common; Broward County, the Miami-Dade school district and the cities of Miami Beach and North Miami all offer similar benefits.

[...]

Verdugo called out three commissioners by name -- Natacha Seijas, Dennis Moss and Rebeca Sosa -- saying they will cast the deciding votes.

Moss voted for the bill in committee, saying ''the world hasn't come to an end'' in the years since other large governments adopted such plans. He told The Miami Herald on Friday that he is ''planning on sticking with it,'' which would make him the critical seventh vote.

STILL SUPPORTS BILL

Sosa supported the bill in a more preliminary vote and said she, too, would continue to support it ``unless they prove there's some negative to the county.''

Seijas has cosponsored a separate bill with Commissioners Dorrin Rolle and José ''Pepe'' Diaz, which would provide the same visitation and insurance options for relatives who live together.

The Alvarez administration has expressed concern that it would be used by elderly or infirm relatives, who tend to need more medical care and therefore drive up the cost of running the system.

[jw]