Vanasco: Gay benefits press call clarifies…nothing
By Jennifer Vanasco, editor in chief, 365gay.com
06.17.2009 4:00pm EDT
In advance of President Obama’s 5:45 remarks on extending limited benefits to gay federal workers, Director of Personnel Management John Berry spoke to the press and said….very little.
He seemed to be reading from a brief, prepared statement that recapped what we already know: OPM investigated which benefits could be extended to same-sex partners of federal employees that were not circumscribed by DOMA and it found two.
1. Domestic partners of federal employees can be added to the long-term care insurance program and
2. Supervisors CAN be required to allow employees to use sick leave to take care of domestic partners and non-biological, non-adopted children. (Note the “can” there, which was in a Press Office fact sheet sent earlier in the day. Berry repeated the “can” in his statement but later, in response to a question, said providing this sort of sick leave would be mandatory.)
What’s not included?
The stuff that matters. Health insurance. Pension access. Survivor benefits. Life insurance. You know, the stuff that the majority of the Fortune 500 has been providing for years (as Berry helpfully pointed out). The stuff people actually want.
“This is a first step, not the final step,” Berry said. “It gets the federal house in order. It’s important to do - it’s practicing before preaching.”
Berry also said that a memo would be sent out to all Federal departments asking them to look for additional benefits they could extend, and instructing them that making employment decisions on the basis of anything other than job performance - including sexual orientation and gender identity - is not acceptable.
Unfortunately, as John Aravois of Americablog pointed out in a question, this guidance was already extended by Bill Clinton and was followed by George W. Bush. And the “benefits” are already provided by many supervisors at their discretion.
Berry, however, was not deterred in his optimism or support of the President. He said, “Gays and lesbians can be extremely proud that this president stands with us 100 percent on these core issues.”
Hmmm. This lesbian is skeptical. What would make a real difference? How about if the President in his 5:45 pm remarks today says one of these points laid out by blogger Lane Hudson:
1. Extending the full range of benefits (whatever they may include) to same sex partners of Federal employees in a lasting Executive Order. According to Chuck Todd of NBC News, a Presidential Memorandum will not last past his Presidency.
2. Calling on the Congress to immediately pass legislation that would extend the balance of benefits not able to be extended via Executive Order.
3. Announcing that he will instruct the Department of Justice not to defend section 3 of DOMA, which deals with Federal benefits, that is being challenged in a federal lawsuit by the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) in Massachusetts.
4. Signing an Executive order that bans employment discrimination against transgender persons in the Federal workforce.
5. Announcing a concrete path forward on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
6. Calling on Congress to pass the far too long delayed Employment Non-Discrimination Act and Federal Hate Crimes Legislation.
7. Urging Congress to include the Uniting American Families Act in immigration reform legislation to be considered this year.
8. Committing the National Institute of Health to undertake a new effort for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and the Department of Health and Human Services to commit to new efforts on prevention of HIV/AIDS.
For some reason, I’m not hopeful we’ll hear any of that.
http://www.365gay.com/news/vanasco-gay-benefits-press-call-clarifiesnothing/
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