APA Newsletters
Spring 2000
Volume 99, Number 2

Christensen, Craig W. "If not Marriage? On Securing Gay and Lesbian Family Values by a ‘Simulacrum of Marriage’," 66 Fordham Law Review 1733 (1998)

A fascinating review of what has—and hasn’t—been done in various jurisdictions in this country and in Europe (especially Hawaii and Denmark) with respect to the strategy of affording same-sex couples a formalized civil substitute for a marriage license: so-called registered partnerships or domestic partnerships. Perhaps the most intriguing element in Christiansen’s review is his account of the nature and legislative history of Hawaii’s brand of domestic partnership law, styled a "reciprocal beneficiary relationship."

Compared to other domestic efforts, the scope of Hawaii’s domestic partnership law is positively breathtaking. There the participation in public employee spousal and family benefit plans is statewide, and goes beyond health care to include participation as beneficiaries in the public employee retirement system. The law has analogous provisions requiring most private employers to extend spousal and family health care plans to employees’ domestic partners and their children, although these provisions are currently under attack in the federal courts. In addition, Hawaii’s law secures for registered domestic partners some inheritance rights, workers’ compensation survivor benefits, the right to pursue wrongful death suits, and domestic abuse protections.