Oregon Completes West Coast Domestic Partnership Trifecta

365gay.com is reporting that the the Oregon legislature has passed HB 2007 (The Oregon Family Fairness Act) which would enact a statewide domestic partnership registry and bestow limited state recognition, responsibilities and benefits to registered domestic partners in the state similar to California's and Washington's domestic partner statutes. Governor Ted Kulongoski has said that he will sign the bill into law.

At the beginning of the year, California was the only state west of Pennsylvania to have a statewide domestic partnership statute. Now it is not even June and the entire west coast will be comprised of states that have statewide domestic partnership laws! (Alaska has their own drama with domestic partnership benefits for state employees which has been going on for years but I don't really consider them part of the "Left Coast" anyway.) In addition, New Hampshire has enacted a civil unions bill, New Jersey's previously enacted civil unions bill came into effect and Iowa, Oregon and Colorado are all very likely to pass sexual orientation and gender identity non-discrimination bills; Oregon and Iowa already have!