Press Release:
OutFront Minnesota, State's Leading GLBT Organization, Denounces Assault On
Minneapolis Equal Benefits Ordinance

April 7, 2004 - For immediate release.

(Minneapolis) - OutFront Minnesota, the state's leading organization serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities and their allies, criticized today's lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis seeking to prevent City contractors from being required to provide employee benefits in a non-discriminatory manner. The legislation is commonly referred to as an "Equal Benefits Ordinance" (EBO), and is modeled on ordinances passed in seven municipalities in the country. It went into effect January 1, 2004.

"Minneapolis has recognized that leaders in the business world in Minnesota and around the country offer equal benefits to all workers," said OutFront Minnesota Executive Director Ann M. DeGroot, noting that the City already requires contractors to comply with other requirements, such as affirmative action. "Today's lawsuit challenging the City, if successful, would undermine its ability to secure goods and services from the most competitive suppliers, and stand in the way of permitting all workers to provide for their families."

The first EBO was passed in San Francisco in the 1997, according to OutFront Minnesota Public Policy Director Monica Meyer. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there are more than 4,400 employers across the United States known to offer the same benefits to employees' domestic partners as are offered to employees' spouses, even without including employers providing benefits due to compliance with existing EBOs. Over 130 Minnesota businesses currently offer domestic partner benefits to its employees. Litigation filed in the 1990s in California established the permissible parameters of EBOs, and Minneapolis was careful to stay within the bounds of the final judicial decision.

"It is ironic, to say the least, that just as extremists are attacking the so-called 'activism' of an 'out of control' judiciary, these same extremists beat a quick path to the court's door to impose their views on others yet again," Meyer said, noting that no company is forced to contract with the City. "Any employer can comply with the EBO by simply agreeing not to discriminate."

Contact: Monica Meyer, Public Policy Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 115

Ann M. DeGroot, Executive Director
(612) 822-0127, ext. 107

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OutFront Minnesota is a non-partisan organization serving the GLBT and allied communities of Minnesota. All services including voter guides, voter information, and voter registration are made available without regard to a voter's political preference or on the basis of support or opposition to a particular candidate.