CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Residents in this Cleveland suburb could become the first in the nation to vote on letting gay couples legally document their relationships.
Heights Families for Equality, a group formed last year to support gay rights, announced yesterday a drive to create a citywide "domestic partner" registry.
"My wife and I, like all married couples, can take for granted legal protections that are difficult or impossible for unmarried couples of obtain," David Caldwell, the group's spokesman said yesterday.
The registry would give gay and heterosexual unmarried partners a legal record saying they have committed to each other.
Couples could use the document in attempts to share employment benefits or inherit property. The registry would not be binding on courts, governments, hospitals or private companies, but many such registries have been accepted elsewhere.
Across the nation, 61 registries have been created by municipal councils or state legislatures, but not by voters, said Lorri Jean, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
"Cleveland Heights is a small place, but equality in this country is something that happens in little bits and pieces, at least until we get a federal law," Jean said.
A victory at the polls would give momentum for registry drives elsewhere, she said.
Heights Families for Equality needs to collect about 3,600 signatures to put the registry on the ballot this year.
The drive comes as the Legislature is poised to ban same-sex marriages or recognition of gay relationships.
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