Domestic Partnership in Maine

To the editor:
    I hope you will consider voting “Yes” on Question 1 on November 3rd because many of the questions raised by the Vote “No” interests could be worked out in the next session of the Maine Legislature without changing the definition of marriage.  In fact, during the last session of the legislature, a bill was introduced (LD 1118) that would have dealt with many of the questions raised by Vote “No” but was voted down by the legislature last year. The legislators who supported changing the definition of marriage were so intent on making that change that they were not willing to consider a far less radical idea that would have accomplished their goals.
    Domestic Partnerships were established in the state of Maine in April of 2004, and took effect on July 30, 2004. Under the law, same sex couples who register as domestic partners in Maine are considered each other’s closest next of kin; can inherit all or part of the partner’s estate if the partner dies without a will; can make funeral and burial arrangements; can be named a guardian or conservator if the partner becomes incapacitated; can be named a representative to administer a deceased partner’s estate; and can authorize organ and tissue donations from the deceased partner. The law also includes protection of same-sex couples under the state’s domestic violence statutes.
    To register as domestic partners in Maine, both parties must be mentally competent adults, must have been legally domiciled together in Maine for the preceding 12 months, must not be within prohibited degrees of consanguinity, and must not be married to, or in a domestic partnership with someone else. Opposite-sex couples who meet these requirements may also register as domestic partners and at least 24 percent of partnerships in the registry are believed to be opposite-sex partners.
    Please vote “Yes” on Question One and send the 124th Legislature back to Augusta to work these questions out by changes to the Domestic Partnership law or by other legislative action instead of the more controversial approach of changing the definition of marriage.
Dean Clukey
Houlton