FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 30, 1996

Domestic Partner Benefits Approved by University of Maine System

(Bangor, ME, September 30, 1996) Today, the University of Maine System became the first public employer in Maine to offer domestic partnership benefits to same-gender couples. Health insurance benefits, bereavement leave, tuition waivers and access to campus facilities will now be made available to qualified domestic partners of faculty members.

Today’s contract ratification vote by the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System was the final step in the process. For over a year, the faculty union AFUM (Associated Faculties for the University of Maine) and Trustees have been bargaining over a new contract. This time, for the first time since the domestic partner issue was raised six years ago, the contract provided equal pay for equal work by permitting domestic partnership coverage. Maine now joins public universities in at least nine states which offer domestic partnership benefits.

There are seven campuses in the system, stretching from Presque Isle to Portland, with over 1300 faculty members and nearly 4700 employees overall.

Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which worked with AFUM and a group of gay and lesbian faculty and staff members to achieve this result over several years, called this “a major step forward toward the goal of equal pay for equal work for all employees in the University system.”

Professor Margaret Fournier, the Nursing Professor who had sought health coverage for her partner six years ago but lost her case in arbitration, exulted, “The University of Maine System has had a policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation since 1987. Today’s action by the Board of Trustees demonstrates that they, indeed, stand by their word and will not discriminate. I am now able to enroll my partner of 24 years on my family plan.”

This development did not occur overnight. Faculty members at campuses throughout the state, together with their union, have sought domestic partnership benefits for over six years. AFUM, together with Bonauto, spearheaded the effort after an arbitrator ruled in 1991 that the contract must specifically provide for domestic partner benefits in order for the University to recognize non-traditional families for health care benefits. That case, involving University of Southern Maine Professor Maggie Fournier, galvanized gay and straight supporters alike because the couple had been together 18 years at the time, and Fournier’s partner had just lost her job and insurance.

A group of faculty and staff calling itself “Advocates for Equality in Family Benefits” circulated petitions and raised the issue in surveys and union meetings. Although the union leadership had committed itself to obtaining domestic partnership benefits since 1992, it was not until 1995 that a breakthrough occurred with the University System agreeing to set up a joint committee to study the issue.

The Joint Committee issued its report in January, 1996. Citing the unavailability of marriage to same-gender couples, the purpose and spirit of the University’s 1987 non-discrimination policy, and the need to stay competitive as a recruiter, the Committee concluded, in part,

“The Committee recommends that same-sex domestic partners of faculty be considered the equivalents of spouses for eligibility in employee benefit programs. Equity and fairness are the compelling reason for this recommendation. University of Maine Professor Jean Lavigne, a key player on that committee, stated that the University System “recognized the need to comply with its own anti-discrimination policy, and realized it needed to treat people fairly in order to remain competitive.”

All those involved agree the ultimate key to success was the courage of both gay and straight faculty members who spoke clearly and honestly about how the existing policies hurt Maine families.

GLAD is New England’s leading legal rights organization for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and people with HIV. GLAD’s mission is to achieve full equality and justice for all individuals in these groups, primarily through litigation and education.