As reported in the Asheville Citizen-Times on July 13th Asheville will continue to offer domestic partner benefits to City of Asheville employees who are in same-sex relationships. Additionally, the city will continue to maintain its Domestic Partnership Registry, which is a way for LGBT couples (from anywhere, not just Asheville) to document their relationship.
From the Citizen-Times article: “As I understand it, Amendment One will have no impact on domestic partnership benefits,” said Martha Walker-McGlohon, assistant city attorney. “The city will continue to administer policy consistent with how we did before the amendment was passed.”
This comes as good news and offers additional evidence that the passage of Amendment One should have no impact on domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples across the state of North Carolina.
Currently Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham, Orange County, Greensboro, Mecklenburg County and Asheville are the North Carolina cities and counties that recognize domestic partnerships. It does not appear that these registries, which serve the function of creating a mechanism through which businesses, hospitals and other organizations can recognize same-sex relationships, will be impacted by Amendment One.
This news out of Asheville adds to the growing evidence that Amendment One may not have a widespread impact on the law in North Carolina. Recently, Diane Juffras, Associate Professor of Public Law and Government at the UNC School of Government authored a 34-page brief that says, “In my opinion, Amendment One does not take away the authority of North Carolina local government employers to offer domestic partner benefits.” You can read more about the brief at The Independent Weekly.
