On being hired by the City of Berkeley in February 1979, Tom Brougham found that his same-sex partner, Barry Warren, was not considered eligible to receive health and dental benefits which the City extended to the legal spouses of its employees. Just months before, they had witnessed the City Council of Berkeley pass a strongly-worded ordinance forbidding discrimination of the basis of sexual orientation. Since the City's use of marriage as the criterion for extending benefits excluded all same-sex partners permanently, Brougham felt that use constituted clear sexual-orientation discrimination .
Since employers and governments were discriminating in health, dental and pension benefits in this manner everywhere, the cumulative economic consequences for the lesbian/gay community were huge.
The discrimination had two distinct origins: 1) California's too-narrow definition of who was eligible to marry and 2) then the use of that too-narrow marriage definition by entities to grant benefits. Since California legislative action at the time was impossible and since the lesbian/gay community then generally viewed marriage as an oppressive institution, Brougham and Warren decided to attack the exclusiveuseof marriage in the granting of benefits, starting with their own employers.
On August 21, 1979, after a period of research and thought, Brougham applied to the City of Berkeley to have Warren enrolled for Heath and Dental benefits. In support of his application he attached two letters. The first letter analysed the situation and protested the discriminatory effect of the City's use of marriage as an exclusive criterion. The second letter proposed "domestic partnerships" as the criterion for same-sex couples.
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