Orange County Moves Forward With Domestic Partner Registry
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
By: Tom Parkinson

Feb,22, 2012 | WMFE - Orange County may soon have a domestic partner registry similar to the one established in December by the City of Orlando. The County Commission voted Tuesday to move forward with a proposal from County Mayor Teresa Jacobs to expand Orlando's existing registry to the entire county but with a few differences.

The City of Orlando’s registry allows domestic partners certain privileges such as hospital and jail visitation. Jacob’s says she still has legal concerns about three of the seven provisions in the city’s ordinance: funeral and end-of-life decisions; notification of a partner in a life threatening emergency and decisions regarding a partner’s children in public schools.

Joe Saunders, State Field Director for the group Equality Florida, says the county proposal is a step forward.

“The gay community, in general, feels like we are headed in the right direction.” Saunders said. “But I’m not going to be satisfied until we land in the same place that the city did which is that all seven of those protections are  vital to the families who have no protection at all in Orange County."

Also unlike the city’s registry, Mayor Jacobs proposal would allow people who don’t live together to designate a friend or a neighbor as the person to have those privileges.
Jacobs says she believes the county’s legal staff will be able to work out any wrinkles in the proposal and she expects to have the registry open by early summer.