Pride at Work
Encyclopedia
Pride at Work is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group (LGBT) of labor union
activists which seeks full equality for LGBT workers in their workplaces and their unions.
. But gay activism flourished in a limited way in some sectors of the "house of labor." The National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards (NUMCS), which represented workers on luxury liners, included among its leaders the openly gay Stephen R. Blair. NUMCS was derided as "red, black and queer" for its leftist politics, racial integration and the large number of gay members. A sign in the union hall proclaimed, "Race-baiting, Red-baiting, and Queer-Baiting is Anti-Union." Blair's life-partner, Frank McCormick, was a vice president of the California Congress of Industrial Organizations
and an important leader in the 1934 West Coast longshore strike
. Harry Hay
was an organizer for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
in New York City. Attending the Southern California Labor School, he met many of the men who would later become some of the first members of the Mattachine Society
, whose initial five members were all union activists.
Bayard Rustin
, an openly gay man and a principle organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
, later became the first executive secretary of the A. Philip Randolph Institute
. Another openly gay man, Tom Kahn
wrote speeches for and served as assistant to AFL-CIO
presidents George Meany
and Lane Kirkland
, as well as head of the AFL-CIO's International Affairs Department from 1986 until his death in 1992. Openly gay Bill Olwell became an international vice president of the Retail Clerks International Union
(RCIU) in 1972, and was later elected to a similar position with the United Food and Commercial Workers
(UFCW) in 1986 after the RCIU merged with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters
to form the UFCW.
The first public endorsement of LGBT rights by an American labor union, however, did not occur until 1970, after the Stonewall Rebellion. In that year, the executive council of the American Federation of Teachers
passed a resolution which denounced discrimination against teachers solely because the individual was a homosexual. A second step forward for LGBT labor activists came with the Coors beer
boycott. As part of its anti-union efforts, the company administered lie-detector
tests to prospective employees asking about their union views. Among the questions also asked was whether the job applicant was a homosexual. In 1974, the Teamsters were attempting to organize workers at Coors. Two straight Teamster organizers approached San Francisco gay community leaders Howard Wallace, a teamster union activist, and Harvey Milk
, then an emerging political activist, about supporting the boycott. Wallace and Milk agreed, if the Teamsters would agree to promote the hiring of openly gay truck drivers. The Teamsters consented. The Coors boycott took off in San Francisco, and spread nationally. In California, the market share
of Coors dropped from 40 percent to 14 percent. Facing this boycott, Coors stopped asking its applicants about their sexuality.
The gay rights and labor movements joined forced again in 1978. Proposition Six
, known as the Briggs amendment, would have banned gays from teaching in California public schools. A coalition of gay and union activists was formed and defeated the amendment.
In 1979, the quadrennial convention of the AFL-CIO unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the enactment of federal legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a number of LGBT union members had formed caucuses within their respective unions. Organizations with large numbers of members which became politically active, even electorally important, included those within the Service Employees International Union
, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
, the Communications Workers of America
and UFCW.
as part of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots
. Wallace and others associated with the Gay and Lesbian Labor Activist Network (GALLAN), an organization of LGBT labor union activists in San Francisco, pushed for the formation of national organization out of frustration with the labor movement's silence during the debate over the Defense of Marriage Act
. Taking a cue from a 1990 booklet titled Pride at Work: Organizing for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Unions, the group decided to adopt the title as its name.
In 1997, PAW affiliated as a constituency group of the AFL-CIO. Affiliation did not come easily. Several members of the AFL-CIO's executive council argued that the group was too small to affiliate. Affiliation was also opposed on the basis that members of the group were not historically discriminated against in collective bargaining, and that the members should work through their local and international unions. This claim led to accusations by some members of the executive council and the LGBT union community that those opposing affiliation were homophobic
. But AFL-CIO president John Sweeney
pushed hard for the affiliation. When a final vote was taken, opponents of affiliation abstained rather than vote no.
PAW's relationship to the AFL-CIO proved rocky at first. Unlike other AFL-CIO constituent organizations, Pride at Work was not given a budget to help fund its operations until 1999. In 2006, funding was still minimal. From the outset, however, PAW was given full access to AFL-CIO state and local labor councils and international member unions, enhancing its research and mobilization efforts substantially.
PAW's policy-making body is the National Executive Board (NEB). The NEB is composed of the seven executive officers; chapter representatives elected from the chapters; a member appointed by the president of the AFL-CIO; members from each recognized international union's LGBT union caucus (with a maximum one member per international); and a maximum of six 'diversity representatives' appointed by the aforementioned members of the NEB. PAW's National Executive Board meets at least once a year.
Representation on the NEB is proportionate to membership. A chapter which represents 10 percent or more of the organization's membership is entitled to two representatives on the NEB. Chapters which represent at least 5 percent but no more than 10 percent of the organization's membership are entitled to one representative on the NEB. Each June 30 in a non-convention year, smaller chapters may seek recognition from the organization to determine whether they meet the 5 percent cut-off mark. Small chapters not meeting the rule may elect two board members, who then represent all small chapters. Board members serve for three-year terms.
Diversity representatives are important to PAW's work as a new organization. Categories covered under diversity include but are not limited to race, industrial sector, rank and file status, gender identity, union representation, gender, age and geographic area (especially those targeted for new chapter organizing). Diversity representatives are charged with advocating for their diversity group under PAW's constitution.
An executive committee governs the organization in the absence of the National Executive Board. The executive committee is composed of the seven officers as well as however many other members the NEB sees fit to elect to it. The executive committee meets at least twice a year, but often more frequently.
The PAW staff is small. Constitutionally, there must be at least one director. Directors are appointed by a majority vote of the executive committee. As of July 2006, there are three staff members in addition to constitutionally-required director.
PAW's members, assembled in membership meetings, are the highest decision-making body within the organization. Members may be at-large or members of local chapters. Chapters are largely autonomous. PAW had roughly 25 chapters in the United States in 2006, about double the number it had in 1997. PAW holds a triennial convention, usually in September. An annual membership meeting is usually held in mid-summer.
The organization educates LGBT people about their rights as workers, the organized labor movement and the principles of trade union solidarity; encourages and assists LGBT workers to organize and to become active participants in the trade union movement; opposes discrimination on the job and in unions based on sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, race, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, religion or political views; encourages LGBT workers to register and vote to exercise their full rights and responsibilities of citizenship at the local, state and national levels; and educates the union movement and the public about the economic and social needs and interests of LGBT workers.
PAW also helps educate union members on larger political questions of importance to the LGBT community, such as gender identity-anti-discrimination protections and marriage equality.
Nationally, PAW led the struggle for domestic partnership benefits, an issue important to LGBT couples and non-married heterosexuals. PAW has also recently undertaken an initiative to advocate for health care benefits for the special needs of transgendered workers.
in National Pride at Work v. Granholm, No. 05-368-CZ (55th Dist. Ct. September 27, 2005). In 2004, the state of Michigan
amended its constitution
to define marriage
as a union between a man and a woman. After enactment of the amendment (known as Proposal 2), Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm
questioned the legality of providing state-funded domestic partnership
benefits. In May 2005, Pride at Work, on behalf of its members at Michigan State University
and other state agencies, filed a complaint seeking to establish that the amendment does not bar public employers from providing benefits to domestic partners. Pride at Work argued in its brief that domestic partnership benefits are a contractual relationship unrelated to marital status and are not preempted by the amendment. On September 27, 2005, district court judge Joyce Draganchuk agreed, and issued summary judgment for the plaintiffs.
The state of Michigan appealed. On October 31, 2005, the Michigan Court of Appeals
granted the state attorney general's motion to stay the decision and accelerate the appeal. On April 11, 2006, a panel of three Michigan Court of Appeals judges heard oral arguments on the amendment prohibiting public employers from offering domestic partner benefits.
On February 2, 2007, a unanimous three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals ruled that the amendment bans domestic partner benefit plans. The ruling dismissed Pride at Work's claim that the amendment deprives same-sex couples of the equal protection of the law. "Consistent with the state's long public policy tradition of favoring the institution of marriage," the court wrote, "the marriage amendment's purpose, 'to secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children...' is neither arbitrary nor invidious on its face." Pride at Work immediately appealed the ruling.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activists which seeks full equality for LGBT workers in their workplaces and their unions.
Homosexual rights and the labor movement: History
The openness, visibility and participation of LGBT people in the American labor movement is closely linked to that of the American Gay Rights MovementLGBT movements in the United States
LGBT movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social and political movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century...
. But gay activism flourished in a limited way in some sectors of the "house of labor." The National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards (NUMCS), which represented workers on luxury liners, included among its leaders the openly gay Stephen R. Blair. NUMCS was derided as "red, black and queer" for its leftist politics, racial integration and the large number of gay members. A sign in the union hall proclaimed, "Race-baiting, Red-baiting, and Queer-Baiting is Anti-Union." Blair's life-partner, Frank McCormick, was a vice president of the California Congress of Industrial Organizations
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
and an important leader in the 1934 West Coast longshore strike
1934 West Coast Longshore Strike
The 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike lasted eighty-three days, triggered by sailors and a four-day general strike in San Francisco, and led to the unionization of all of the West Coast ports of the United States...
. Harry Hay
Harry Hay
Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in...
was an organizer for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is a labor union in the United States and Canada that is a semi-autonomous division of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Change to Win Federation...
in New York City. Attending the Southern California Labor School, he met many of the men who would later become some of the first members of the Mattachine Society
Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
, whose initial five members were all union activists.
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
, an openly gay man and a principle organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
, later became the first executive secretary of the A. Philip Randolph Institute
A. Philip Randolph Institute
The A. Philip Randolph Institute is an organization for African American trade unionists.-History:Following passage of the Voting Rights Act, APRI was co-founded in 1965 by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin...
. Another openly gay man, Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn
Tom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...
wrote speeches for and served as assistant to AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
presidents George Meany
George Meany
William George Meany led labor union federations in the United States. As an officer of the American Federation of Labor, he represented the AFL on the National War Labor Board during World War II....
and Lane Kirkland
Lane Kirkland
Joseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
, as well as head of the AFL-CIO's International Affairs Department from 1986 until his death in 1992. Openly gay Bill Olwell became an international vice president of the Retail Clerks International Union
Retail Clerks International Union
The Retail Clerks International Union , was a labor union that represented retail employees. The RCIU was chartered as the "Retail Clerks National Protective Union" in 1890 by the American Federation of Labor. It later adopted the name Retail Clerks International Association, and subsequently...
(RCIU) in 1972, and was later elected to a similar position with the United Food and Commercial Workers
United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile, G4S Security, chemical...
(UFCW) in 1986 after the RCIU merged with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters
Amalgamated Meat Cutters
The Amalgamated Meat Cutters , officially the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, was a labor union that represented retail butchers and packinghouse workers.-History:...
to form the UFCW.
The first public endorsement of LGBT rights by an American labor union, however, did not occur until 1970, after the Stonewall Rebellion. In that year, the executive council of the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
passed a resolution which denounced discrimination against teachers solely because the individual was a homosexual. A second step forward for LGBT labor activists came with the Coors beer
Coors Brewing Company
The Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
boycott. As part of its anti-union efforts, the company administered lie-detector
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
tests to prospective employees asking about their union views. Among the questions also asked was whether the job applicant was a homosexual. In 1974, the Teamsters were attempting to organize workers at Coors. Two straight Teamster organizers approached San Francisco gay community leaders Howard Wallace, a teamster union activist, and Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
, then an emerging political activist, about supporting the boycott. Wallace and Milk agreed, if the Teamsters would agree to promote the hiring of openly gay truck drivers. The Teamsters consented. The Coors boycott took off in San Francisco, and spread nationally. In California, the market share
Market share
Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...
of Coors dropped from 40 percent to 14 percent. Facing this boycott, Coors stopped asking its applicants about their sexuality.
The gay rights and labor movements joined forced again in 1978. Proposition Six
California Proposition 6 (1978)
California Proposition 6 was an initiative on the California State ballot on November 7, 1978, and was more commonly known as The Briggs Initiative. Sponsored by John Briggs, a conservative state legislator from Orange County, the failed initiative would have banned gays and lesbians, and possibly...
, known as the Briggs amendment, would have banned gays from teaching in California public schools. A coalition of gay and union activists was formed and defeated the amendment.
In 1979, the quadrennial convention of the AFL-CIO unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the enactment of federal legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a number of LGBT union members had formed caucuses within their respective unions. Organizations with large numbers of members which became politically active, even electorally important, included those within the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one of the fastest-growing, representing over 1.4 million employees, primarily in local and state government and in the health care industry. AFSCME is part of the...
, the Communications Workers of America
Communications Workers of America
Communications Workers of America is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States representing about 550,000 members in both the private and public sectors. The union has 27 locals in Canada via CWA-SCA Canada representing about 8,000 members...
and UFCW.
Origins of Pride at Work
In June 1994, LGBT union activists gathered in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as part of the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
. Wallace and others associated with the Gay and Lesbian Labor Activist Network (GALLAN), an organization of LGBT labor union activists in San Francisco, pushed for the formation of national organization out of frustration with the labor movement's silence during the debate over the Defense of Marriage Act
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is a United States federal law whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no U.S. state may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state...
. Taking a cue from a 1990 booklet titled Pride at Work: Organizing for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Unions, the group decided to adopt the title as its name.
In 1997, PAW affiliated as a constituency group of the AFL-CIO. Affiliation did not come easily. Several members of the AFL-CIO's executive council argued that the group was too small to affiliate. Affiliation was also opposed on the basis that members of the group were not historically discriminated against in collective bargaining, and that the members should work through their local and international unions. This claim led to accusations by some members of the executive council and the LGBT union community that those opposing affiliation were homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. But AFL-CIO president John Sweeney
John Sweeney (labor leader)
John Joseph Sweeney was the president of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009.-Early years:Born in The Bronx, New York, Sweeney is the son of Joseph and Agnes , both Irish immigrants. The family moved to Yonkers in 1944, where Sweeney attended St. Barnabas Elementary School and graduated from Cardinal...
pushed hard for the affiliation. When a final vote was taken, opponents of affiliation abstained rather than vote no.
PAW's relationship to the AFL-CIO proved rocky at first. Unlike other AFL-CIO constituent organizations, Pride at Work was not given a budget to help fund its operations until 1999. In 2006, funding was still minimal. From the outset, however, PAW was given full access to AFL-CIO state and local labor councils and international member unions, enhancing its research and mobilization efforts substantially.
Structure
Pride at Work is a non-profit organization. It has seven executive officers: male-identified and female-identified co-presidents, male-identified and female-identified vice co-presidents, an organizing vice president, a treasurer and a secretary. The co-presidents co-chair the National Executive Board and the Executive Committee of the organization. Each officer has a three-year term, with elections held at the organization's convention.PAW's policy-making body is the National Executive Board (NEB). The NEB is composed of the seven executive officers; chapter representatives elected from the chapters; a member appointed by the president of the AFL-CIO; members from each recognized international union's LGBT union caucus (with a maximum one member per international); and a maximum of six 'diversity representatives' appointed by the aforementioned members of the NEB. PAW's National Executive Board meets at least once a year.
Representation on the NEB is proportionate to membership. A chapter which represents 10 percent or more of the organization's membership is entitled to two representatives on the NEB. Chapters which represent at least 5 percent but no more than 10 percent of the organization's membership are entitled to one representative on the NEB. Each June 30 in a non-convention year, smaller chapters may seek recognition from the organization to determine whether they meet the 5 percent cut-off mark. Small chapters not meeting the rule may elect two board members, who then represent all small chapters. Board members serve for three-year terms.
Diversity representatives are important to PAW's work as a new organization. Categories covered under diversity include but are not limited to race, industrial sector, rank and file status, gender identity, union representation, gender, age and geographic area (especially those targeted for new chapter organizing). Diversity representatives are charged with advocating for their diversity group under PAW's constitution.
An executive committee governs the organization in the absence of the National Executive Board. The executive committee is composed of the seven officers as well as however many other members the NEB sees fit to elect to it. The executive committee meets at least twice a year, but often more frequently.
The PAW staff is small. Constitutionally, there must be at least one director. Directors are appointed by a majority vote of the executive committee. As of July 2006, there are three staff members in addition to constitutionally-required director.
PAW's members, assembled in membership meetings, are the highest decision-making body within the organization. Members may be at-large or members of local chapters. Chapters are largely autonomous. PAW had roughly 25 chapters in the United States in 2006, about double the number it had in 1997. PAW holds a triennial convention, usually in September. An annual membership meeting is usually held in mid-summer.
Goals and program
Pride at Work exists to build tolerance and support for LGBT members in the workplace and in labor unions.The organization educates LGBT people about their rights as workers, the organized labor movement and the principles of trade union solidarity; encourages and assists LGBT workers to organize and to become active participants in the trade union movement; opposes discrimination on the job and in unions based on sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, race, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, religion or political views; encourages LGBT workers to register and vote to exercise their full rights and responsibilities of citizenship at the local, state and national levels; and educates the union movement and the public about the economic and social needs and interests of LGBT workers.
PAW also helps educate union members on larger political questions of importance to the LGBT community, such as gender identity-anti-discrimination protections and marriage equality.
Nationally, PAW led the struggle for domestic partnership benefits, an issue important to LGBT couples and non-married heterosexuals. PAW has also recently undertaken an initiative to advocate for health care benefits for the special needs of transgendered workers.
Staff
Peggy Shorey, Executive Director; Darren Phelps, Program Director; and Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Development Director.Pride at Work v. Granholm
Pride at Work is the lead plaintiffPlaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
in National Pride at Work v. Granholm, No. 05-368-CZ (55th Dist. Ct. September 27, 2005). In 2004, the state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
amended its constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
to define marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
as a union between a man and a woman. After enactment of the amendment (known as Proposal 2), Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...
questioned the legality of providing state-funded domestic partnership
Domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
benefits. In May 2005, Pride at Work, on behalf of its members at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
and other state agencies, filed a complaint seeking to establish that the amendment does not bar public employers from providing benefits to domestic partners. Pride at Work argued in its brief that domestic partnership benefits are a contractual relationship unrelated to marital status and are not preempted by the amendment. On September 27, 2005, district court judge Joyce Draganchuk agreed, and issued summary judgment for the plaintiffs.
The state of Michigan appealed. On October 31, 2005, the Michigan Court of Appeals
Michigan Court of Appeals
The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965...
granted the state attorney general's motion to stay the decision and accelerate the appeal. On April 11, 2006, a panel of three Michigan Court of Appeals judges heard oral arguments on the amendment prohibiting public employers from offering domestic partner benefits.
On February 2, 2007, a unanimous three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals ruled that the amendment bans domestic partner benefit plans. The ruling dismissed Pride at Work's claim that the amendment deprives same-sex couples of the equal protection of the law. "Consistent with the state's long public policy tradition of favoring the institution of marriage," the court wrote, "the marriage amendment's purpose, 'to secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children...' is neither arbitrary nor invidious on its face." Pride at Work immediately appealed the ruling.
Pride at Work v. Governor of Michigan
In Pride at Work v. Governor of Michigan, 481 Mich. 56 (2008), the Supreme Court of Michigan interpreted the state’s 2004 constitutional amendment providing that only different-sex unions may be “recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.” The court ruled that the statute prohibited public employers from offering health insurance benefits to employees’ same-sex domestic partners because domestic partnerships are “similar unions” to marriage.Further reading
- Averill, Linda. "Blatantly Militant: The Hidden History of Queers in the U.S. Labor Movement." Freedom Socialist. 22(2): July-September, 2001. Accessed 2010-11-11.
- Fiona Colgan, Sue Ledwith, Editors. Gender, diversity and trade unions: international perspectives. Volume 6 of Routledge research in employment relations. Publisher Psychology Press, 2002
- Desma Holcomb and Nancy Wohlforth. The Fruits of Our Labor: Pride at Work. New Labor Forum No. 8 (Spring - Summer, 2001), pp. 9–20
- Wendland, Joel. "Union Members Prepare for Pride at Work Convention." Political Affairs. July 3–9, 2006. Accessed 2010-11-11.