Anchorage, AK moves to comply with ruling granting gay benefits

The city of Anchorage is planning to offer benefits to same-sex partners of public employees to comply with a recent Alaska Supreme Court ruling - and advocates said Thursday the state would be wise to do the same.

"We'd hope the state would approach the set of issues that need to be resolved with the same good faith approach that the city seems to be pursuing," said Michael Macleod-Ball, director of the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was referring to court papers filed by the municipality in response to the October decision by the high court.

Gay rights advocates claimed a major victory when the court unanimously ruled that denying benefits to the gay partners of public employees was unconstitutional. Alaska was one of the first states to pass a constitutional ban on homosexual marriage. That prohibition bars gay couples from receiving benefits enjoyed by their straight counterparts, the court said.

Supporters said the ruling could have a sweeping effect on other states because of its equal protection rationale. Gov. Frank Murkowski and other conservative Republicans quickly countered with vows to try to overturn it, starting with legislative approval for a constitutional amendment, which would have to be approved by voters.



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AK_ALASKA_GAY_BENEFITS_AKOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-29-21-52-10

Murkowski, Young, Stevens, and the State Legislature, a Republican super-majority.

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