| Back when I was at UT, I was co-director of the (then) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, & Ally Affairs Agency of Student Government at the University of Texas at Austin (GLBTAAASGUTA). It's now the Queer Students Alliance but regardless of that, one of the ongoing issues that we tried to tackle or at least get moving again was the problem of Domestic Partner benefits at UT.
The charge has been taken up again, with a report issues to put numbers and facts to the argument.
Daily Texan: Hundreds rallied at the Texas Union Patio for the event organized by UT's Pride and Equity Faculty Staff Association, which represents gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender University employees. UT does not provide health care benefits to non-spousal dependents or employees with same-sex partners on the grounds that Texas law prohibits such extensions.
The association presented a 70-page report on the lack of domestic partner benefits to the administration in April, but in August, UT President William Powers and lawyers from the UT System and University told the organization they were not in a position to help employees seeking extended partner benefits
A broad coalition of administration, faculty, and political supporters were there, including the University's State Representative Elliott Naishtat.
Naishtat said that of the many rallies hosted by the GLBT community at UT that he had attended, this was the best-attended.
"In order to draw the best and brightest faculty, staff and researchers to the University of Texas and to retain and recruit them, the University has to be competitive with other colleges and universities," Naishtat said.
...
At UT, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender faculty's health care packages offer $8,000 less in compensation than packages offered to straight, married faculty, according to the report.
"They're being discriminated against simply because they aren't married," Naishtat said. "So providing equal benefits is necessary and fundamental to meeting UT's commitment to diversity."
Naishtat said a bill that will be drafted for the 2009 Texas legislative session would eliminate the legal issues that hinder UT from extending benefits.
If passed, the bill will alter the language in the section of the Texas Constitution that prohibits UT from providing benefits to same-sex partners of employees. The insurance code states that the University can only provide benefits to a dependent, whom the code defines as a spouse. Naishtat's bill will add the phrase "or other qualified individual," and UT could then define who may be included in this category of individuals.
Off the Kuff noted some highlights from the main report which just go to show how simple, cheap, and logical equality would be on this issue. Seriously, members who oppose this in the legislature need to realize that they this isn't a "values" debate about ones feelings about same sex partners, but about making Texas' flagship school and system competitive with our peer education institutions.
In 2006 the Pride and Equity Faculty/Staff Association (PEFSA) was established as a University Resource Group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees at The University of Texas at Austin. As a result of concerns regarding workplace equity for GLBT faculty and staff, a PEFSA subcommittee was formed. The committee conducted research, benchmarked peer institutions, and interviewed faculty and staff on campus. After this yearlong study, the committee produced a 70 page report containing questions and answers regarding domestic partner benefits (DPB). The following summarizes the major findings of the report and the recommendations by PEFSA to the President of UT Austin.
Findings
1. UT Austin does not provide benefits to partners of faculty and staff members unless the relationship qualifies as a "marriage" according to Texas law. The consequences are an inequity in compensation and an inherent message that domestic partners are 'less than.' As a result, UT Austin is losing faculty and staff.
- Recruitment and retention: Tenured faculty and seasoned staff are leaving the University and potential hires are declining offers from UT due to the lack of benefits for Domestic Partners.
- Equity: Research indicates that a married employee enjoys significantly greater overall compensation than their non-married counterpart even though both perform identical work. The estimated difference in compensation for a faculty member earning $80,000 per year is $8,108.
- Diversity: Because UT Austin does not offer DBP it undermines both its own non-discrimination policy and its ability to create and foster a diverse workforce.
2. The estimated cost to UT Austin to add DPB is .0058 of the current budget amount for health insurance expenditures.
3. Although Texas has a constitutional amendment limiting the definition of marriage to one man and one woman, other universities with similar state laws offer DPB to their faculty and staff.
4. The Board of Regents is not prohibited from providing DPB and is obligated under the Texas Education Code and Texas Insurance Code to provide benefits competitive with those offered by peer institutions and businesses with whom UT competes for employees.
- 8 out of 10 peer institutions provide DPB
- 304 universities including all Ivy League schools offer DPB
- 9,374 employers in the United States offer DPB
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