IF YOU GO
• What: Chattanooga City Council will vote on the final reading of the proposed domestic partner benefits ordinance• Where: City Council Chambers, 1000 Lindsay St.• When: Today at 6 p.m.
People fill the Chattanooga City Council room.Tonight, Chattanooga could become the third city in Tennessee to offer benefits to employees’ gay or unmarried straight partners — an option that didn’t exist for public workers anywhere in the state three months ago.
Those locally opposed to offering benefits to gay and other unmarried couples say this is a back-door effort to circumvent Tennessee’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Bill sponsor Chris Anderson and other advocates argue that the city isn’t redefining the state constitution’s definition of marriage with this ordinance. This bill is about equality for all city employees and their families, they say.
But a national expert says that in states that have constitutional protections for traditional marriage, the gay rights movement is advancing through local governments.