Domestic Partnerships
Domestic partnership in the District is open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. One of the unusual features of the original bill establishing domestic partnerships was that it allowed partnerships to be created between people who were related by blood (e.g., siblings or a parent and adult child, provided both were single). All couples registered as domestic partners are entitled to the same rights as family members and spouses to visit their domestic partners in the hospital and jail and to make decisions concerning the treatment of a domestic partner’s remains and estate after the partner’s death.
The measure also grants District of Columbia government employees rights to a number of benefits. Domestic partners are eligible for health care insurance coverage, can use annual leave or unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a dependent child or to care for a domestic partner or a partner's dependents, and can make funeral arrangements for a deceased partner.
Read more about this topic: Same-sex Marriage In The District Of Columbia
Famous quotes containing the word domestic:
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—Anica Vesel Mander, U.S. author and feminist, and Anne Kent Rush (b. 1945)