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| D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams (second from left) signed an executive order
on Wednesday creating a cabinet-level Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
Affairs. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Mayor) |
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was.” But the 2003 graduate, who conceived of the
idea for the site in his senior thesis, also said that it received significant
attention from the school’s administration, including President John J.
Casteen, a previous opponent of domestic partner benefits. “Certainly
this is an issue that has a lot of support in the university community, and
it is one that we know affects members of our community,” said Carol Wood,
a university spokesperson. “I think we will all continue to work within
the system to see that progress is made.” Still, some associated with
the campus gay rights movement assert the site’s strong-arm tactics provoked
opponents of the benefits to donate more heavily to the school. In previous
exchanges with Borchini and Bond, Casteen cited Virginia law in defending the
school’s lack of the benefits, even though nearly every prominent university
in the nation offers DP benefits. “The Virginia Code and state policy
authorize us to provide benefits of the kind you propose to married persons,
and the Code defines marriage in conventional terms,” Casteen wrote.
ADRIAN BRUNE
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