University Times

Group plans to continue fighting for same-sex partner health benefits

Protest rallies outside the homes of Pitt's chancellor and trustees chairperson are among the next actions planned by the Equal Rights Alliance (ERA), a group of 12 Pitt students and one staff member who want the University to extend health benefits to domestic partners of its gay and lesbian employees.

ERA members were expected to set a date for the rallies during a meeting last night at the William Pitt Union, after the University Times went to press.

ERA member Shandra Williams said yesterday that the rallies will be held sometime between late-May and the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting.

"We're hoping to get other student organizations to participate in the rallies, including students representing universities that currently offer health benefits for same-sex domestic partners," said Williams, a staff member at the Learning Research and D evelopment Center.

In addition to rallying outside the University residence of Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and the home of trustees chairperson J. Wray Connolly, the ERA hopes to get permission from the U.S. Postal Service to mail flyers, timed to arrive on the days of the r allies, to neighbors of the two men, Williams said. She said the ERA also plans to:

* Mail packets of materials, outlining the group's position, to Pitt trustees at their home and business addresses. Asked how ERA members got the mailing lists, Williams said only that it wasn't from the Secretary of the Board of Trustees office.

* Carry out an undisclosed act of civil disobedience on June 25, the day of the next full board meeting. It won't be a rally like the one held outside the William Pitt Union on Feb. 18 during the last board meeting, ERA members said.

* Hold a public forum on the same-sex benefits issue, probably also on June 25.

The following is a chronology of ERA actions to date:

On April 12, group members began a hunger strike to protest Pitt's refusal to pay health benefits to employees' same-sex partners. Group members also want the University to drop what they see as a challenge to a city law that prohibits discrimination agai nst homosexuals.

In defending itself against a 1996 claim by Deborah Henson, a former Pitt legal writing instructor, the University has challenged the city's authority to impose anti-discrimination laws that exceed those mandated by the state. Pennsylvania does not prohib it discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The city Human Relations Commission is expected to rule by June 1 on a Pitt motion to dismiss Henson's claim.

The hunger strikers (who numbered as many as 22 at one point, according to the ERA) had sought a public meeting with the Board of Trustees. Board Chairperson Connolly offered to meet privately with two ERA members on April 23 on condition that the group e nd its hunger strike. The group declined.

On April 28, ERA members ended their hunger strike and vowed to sit outside the office of the Board of Trustees Secretary until trustees agreed to meet publicly with them.

But the next day, the ERA told Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Robert Gallagher they were willing to accept a private meeting with Connolly and Nordenberg. By then, Connolly had left for Texas. Gallagher told the group he didn't think Connolly would b e available to meet with them for at least several weeks.

ERA members announced on April 30 that they would continue their sit-in until they had a definite answer on whether they would meet with Connolly and Nordenberg. But two days later, they ended the sit-in without receiving such an answer.

On May 3, ERA members staged a protest outside the Civic Arena during commencement. Pitt officials as well as ERA members sounded unsure this week whether the offer of a meeting with Connolly and/or Nordenberg still stands. Vice Chancellor Gallagher said last night that he hasn't talked with ERA members since April 29.

On May 4, Faculty Assembly voted 19-3 in favor of a motion urging Pitt trustees to meet with ERA representatives.

Assembly member Herbert Chesler said faculty needed to show appreciation for the students' efforts to gain health benefits for partners of gay faculty and staff.

— Bruce Steele