Source: Miami Herald
Unmarried couples in Miami-Dade won the right to hospital and jail visitation on Tuesday, following an 8-4 vote by the County Commission, and county employees will be able to buy health coverage for their partners.

Couples will be able to register their partnerships with the county's Consumer Services Department by late August. The system is open to unmarried, nonrelated couples -- gay or straight -- who are at least 18 and live together.

''It's a matter of compassion, a matter of correcting an injustice, a matter of moving forward as a progressive county,'' said Commissioner Katy Sorenson.

County staff estimated 900 couples would file this year.

Those couples would have the same visitation rights as spouses in county healthcare facilities, jails and juvenile detention centers. They would have the same rights as spouses to visit a partner's children and parents.

For county workers, the option to buy health insurance would extend to their domestic partner and that partner's children.

The legislation is hardly revolutionary, mirroring years-old policies in Broward and Palm Beach county governments, the Miami-Dade and Broward school districts and some local municipalities. Couples who have a valid domestic partnership, civil union or similar arrangement from another government would automatically receive the rights in Miami-Dade.

"It's a long time coming," said Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro. "I support this as a proud Republican."

One opponent, Commissioner Joe Martinez, said advocates were dancing around the real issue.

''This is about same-sex partners, period,'' he said. "It's not about domestic partners -- call it what it is."

Its passage had been widely expected, especially after an alternative version sputtered in committee last week.

Opponents, including a coalition of religious leaders, fought the proposal on moral and financial fronts. They said the county cannot afford the $2,200 it costs to subsidize insurance for each partner, the same it already spends on spouses.

But an alternative plan they supported would have covered both domestic partners and live-in relatives -- and therefore required more county subsidy.

The alternative is not dead, Miami Herald reports. Under direction from the commission, Mayor Carlos Alvarez's administration is studying it further.

Commissioner José ''Pepe'' Diaz -- who called the winning proposal ''reverse discrimination'' -- said the Christian Coalition's support for any plan that includes domestic partners was unprecedented. But the commission rejected his requests to add relatives to the plan or put off a vote until June.

Full article: Dade approves domestic-partner benefits | Miami Herald