The City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina has announced a new policy to recognize the legal out-of-state marriage licenses of LGBT city employees and extend standard employee benefits to their families. Winston-Salem is believed to be the first municipality in North Carolina to take this step.
Read more from the Winston-Salem Journal.
“We applaud the City of Winston-Salem for taking the step to recognize all employees’ marriages as equal. We have been honored, through our Hometown Organizing Project, to work with a wonderful team of local advocates to make this policy change a reality. We also continue to advocate for the city to implement a short-term domestic partner benefits policy that addresses the disparity in benefits for couples who cannot afford to travel and get married in another state.” said Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of North Carolina-based Campaign for Southern Equality.
Read the Campaign for Southern Equality’s memo on why the proposed domestic partner benefits policy is also important, as we wait for marriage equality to be implemented in all 50 states.
The introduction of this policy was spearheaded by local advocates who testified before the city council’s Committee on Community Development, Housing and General Government last month. Council members were considering extending benefits to unmarried domestic partners of city employees, but that proposal has not yet moved forward.
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