Stuck in a state known for being traditional and stuck in keeping things in order. Austin has decided to take a step towards giving equality to everyone even same sex couples. Austin has decided to expand the benefits to the same sex partners of city employees. This decision was based off The partner of Spelman’s( a city council member) former employee raised the issue with Spelman after his partner, who was still a City employee, passed away. When his partner attempted to access COBRA benefits, he discovered he was ineligible. This is the first known instance of a same-sex domestic partner requiring COBRA benefits and being denied because of federal rules. While some people are overjoyed at the sudden equality some people find that its only a baby step on the fight for getting equal rights for same sex couples. Some Austin taxpayers are not so keen on giving more of their hard earned money to the same sex partners of the city employees.
Whatever the issue is around the state of Texas. Everyone can agree on one thing. If Austin Texas can be fair to same sex couples then when will Texas remove themselves from the straight traditional ways of the past and move forward toward the new generation? Is it true that the older generation will have to die out before anything nice is done for the non straights?
Another issue that is arising is why should suddenly the same sex partners be allowed to reap the benefits. Well think about it, everyone pays taxes even the same sex couples. why shouldn’t they get, the full benefits that the government offers to the couples that feature two people from the opposite sex, but whatever the issue people have with this I applaud Austin for taking a step forward and giving everyone the equality that they deserve.
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I agree with Jaimee’s argument, in the blog Who let these sublime?, that homosexuals are taxpaying citizens and should reap the benefits like any straight couple. I am very happy to see that Austin, despite being part of a heavily republican state, is making efforts to increase equality. Like she mentions, some people are upset because this is no way close to “fair”, but baby steps ARE steps. This baby step is something to be very proud of, for I thought there was NO way that Austin, because of our location, would be making headway on this issue for a few more years.
ReplyDeleteMy issue and critique comes more from the writing. I say this with the utmost kindness and respect and only mention it because she is majoring Journalism. I expect most people to have poor writing skills because our education system IS failing us and many students get out into the real world without that skill. This is not their fault. But because you, Jaimee, are a Journalism student, and writing will be your occupation, I think it is something that you need to work on. I wrote actively on my highschool newspaper for four years and know Journalistic style. I was awful at writing, so I know it is a learned and practiced skill, not an inherent trait. It is not a good fallback to rely on editors and spell check to do your work. Many of your sentences are fragments because instead of using commas to separate phrases, you put a period. This makes your blogs choppy and confusing, but it is an easy fix. Again, I say this with the utmost respect and kindness.
well thank you for your honest feedback :)
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