Domestic partners face unfair choice - be cold or be alone!

[Trina55]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 6:36pm

(TOTALLY OT but we are trying to spread the word wherever we can!)

Send a postcard to NYC Dept. of Homeless Services and tell them no one should have to make this choice!

The NYC Department of Homeless Services requires domestic partners to produce extra proof to be considered a family and allowed to stay together in a shelter. It does not require this documentation for married couples. This extra burden of proof is extremely difficult to obtain, and means that some couples face the difficult choice between staying together on the cold streets, or separating in order to get shelter. Commissioner Hess can change this. We are trying to get 2000 cards to him by Tuesday. Please foward to friends and lists you are on!

Help us send him a message today! Click the link below to visit www.gaycenter.org and the Center will send Commissioner Hess a postcard on your behalf.

Thanks for your help on this important issue!


DHS Postcard Link

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 7:01pm

So, wait, I'm confused. Does a married hetero couple just walk in and state that they're married and that's enough to get shelter together?

[Trina55]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 1:46pm

Married couples need to present a marriage certificate,
but domestic partners need to present their partnership registration PLUS additional proof. That extra burden of proof is discriminatory, so that's what we're trying to change.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 2:59pm

what is considered additional proof?

[Trina55]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 12:09pm

Domestic partners are required to provide extra documentation (beyond what married couples are required to do) in order to prove their family status, so that they can apply for shelter together. The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) requires that domestic partners also prove cohabitation as well as interdependence in order to be admitted to a family shelter. (Stuff like leases, six months worth of phone bills, etc... you know, all the stuff that you carry around with you especially if you're about to become homeless.) It does not require this documentation for married couples.

Over a number of meetings and negotiations with DHS, they issued an amended policy which exempts same-sex domestic couples from needing the additional documentation but still requires it of opposite-sex domestic partners. We feel that this policy undermines the City’s Domestic Partnership Law. Not only is this issue a major problem for homeless domestic partners, but we believe that any City policy that undermines the legitimacy of domestic partnerships should be of concern to all LGBT people.

(and anyone else who thinks its wrong to discriminate on the basis of whether you're married or not!)