Same sex benefits in right wing country?

I am a union steward and was asked to be on the negotiating committee for our next contract. While sitting in a brainstorming session on what we wanted to pursue in negotiations, I came up with asking for bereavement, FMLA, insurance, retirement and death benefits be extended to domestic partnerships (i.e. same sex couples but also non-married couples in long term relationships). There is already a provision recognizing and granting benefits to common law married opposite sex couples.

My employer (local government), surprisingly, included language in our anti-discrimination policy last year forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identification. My thought was that if we have it written into policy that we can't discriminate against same sex couples, then we need to offer them the same benefits.

One person on the team wasn't gung ho on the idea, saying his preacher would kill him if he put that into a contract, but his objections were shot down after 4 people on the 5 person committee agreed that it was a good proposal. One man, an elderly black blue collar worker, was surprised that same sex couples were denied benefits as a matter of course now. After we explained to him that same sex couples could not get insurance for their partners or receive their retirement benefits upon death or even have time off covered under FMLA or go to a funeral and use bereavement leave, he simply said, "That's not fair."

I know this has the potential to become a hot topic and receive media attention and religious protests. How do I approach the language in the contract and what do I ask for. My feeling is we ask for everything and then negotiate down but fight like hell for this since the employer already has language in it's policy forbidding discrimination.

Has anyone had experience with this type of contract negotiation before? Is anyone aware of any municipality that currently offers these benefits?

Thanks in advance for your help.