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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, September 05, 2008
Alaska
Gov.
Sarah
Palin,
Republican
presidential
candidate
John
McCain’s
running
mate,
strongly
opposes
domestic
partner
benefits
for
Alaska’s
state
employees,
even
though
she
vetoed
a
bill
to
block
same-sex
partners
from
receiving
the
benefits.
Officials
with
Log
Cabin
Republicans
and
National
Stonewall
Democrats,
the
nation’s
largest
gay
GOP
and
gay
Democratic
groups,
offered
sharply
differing
views
this
week
on
Palin’s
gay
rights
record
as
the
groups
jumped
into
the
political
fray
over
a
vice
presidential
pick
that
surprised
leaders
of
both
parties.
“Governor
Palin
is
an
inclusive
Republican
who
will
help
Sen.
McCain
appeal
to
gay
and
lesbian
voters,”
said
Log
Cabin
President
Patrick
Sammon.
“She’s
a
mainstream
Republican
who
will
unite
the
party
and
serve
John
McCain
well
as
vice
president.”
But
John
Marble,
spokes-person
for
National
Stone-wall
Democrats,
called
Palin
a
“champion
of
anti-LGBT
special
interests.”
Marble
noted
her
1998
support
of
a
state
constitutional
amendment
approved
by
voters
that
bans
gay
marriage
and
her
2006
opposition
to
domestic
partner
benefits
for
state
employees.
Palin,
44,
is
the
first
woman
to
be
named
as
a
vice
presidential
candidate
by
the
Republican
Party.
She
is
a
self-described
maverick
who
shook
up
the
Republican
Party
in
Alaska
by
unseating
a
fellow
GOP
governor,
Frank
Murkowski,
in
the
2006
Republican
primary
and
defeated
a
Democratic
former
governor,
Tony
Knowles,
in
the
general
election.
During
her
2006
gubernatorial
campaign,
Palin
revealed
her
approach
to
certain
gay
issues
in
a
questionnaire
for
Eagle
Forum
Alaska,
a
conservative
group.
Among
other
questions,
the
group
asked,
“Will
you
support
an
effort
to
expand
hate
crime
laws?”
Palin
responded,
“No,
as
I
believe
all
heinous
crime
is
based
on
hate.”
She
also
answered
a
question
about
extending
spousal
benefits
to
domestic
partners.
That
question
asked,
“Do
you
support
the
Alaska
Supreme
Court’s
ruling
that
spousal
benefits
for
state
employees
should
be
given
to
same-sex
couples?”
Palin
responded,
“No,
I
believe
spousal
benefits
are
reserved
for
married
citizens
as
defined
in
our
constitution.”
Another
question
asked
Palin
for
her
priorities
“in
relationship
to
families.”
The
second
priority
she
listed
was
“preserving
the
definition
of
‘marriage’
as
defined
in
our
constitution.”
The
questionnaire
also
asked
whether
candidates
would
support
funding
for
abstinence-until-marriage
programs,
an
issue
that
hits
close
to
home
for
Palin,
whose
17-year-old
daughter
is
five
months
pregnant.
Her
response:
“Yes,
the
explicit
sex-ed
programs
will
not
find
my
support.”
Prior
to
being
elected
governor,
Palin
served
as
mayor
of
the
Alaskan
town
of
Wasilla,
which
has
fewer
than
10,000
residents.
She
started
her
career
as
a
sports
reporter
for
an
Anchorage
television
station
after
receiving
a
degree
in
journalism
from
the
University
of
Idaho.
In
1984
she
was
named
Miss
Congeniality
and
first
runner-up
in
the
Miss
Alaska
beauty
pageant.
She
is
married
to
Todd
Palin,
a
native
Yup’ik
Eskimo
who
works
as
an
oil
field
production
operator
in
the
state’s
oil
rich
North
Slope.
The
couple
has
five
children.
Palin’s
position
on
domestic
partner
benefits
is
being
closely
scrutinized
by
gay
activists,
with
some
gay
Republicans
praising
her
decision
to
veto
a
bill
aimed
at
blocking
the
partner
benefits
from
taking
effect.
The
benefits
issue
became
a
political
hot
potato
in
Alaska
in
2005,
when
the
state’s
Supreme
Court
ordered
the
state
to
provide
the
same
health
and
pension
benefits
to
domestic
partners
of
state
employees
that
were
available
to
the
employees’
married
spouses.
The
court’s
decision,
which
stemmed
from
a
1999
lawsuit
filed
by
several
same-sex
couples,
found
that
the
equal
protection
clause
of
the
Alaska
Constitution
required
that
same-sex
partners
of
state
employees
receive
benefits
equal
to
those
received
by
married
employees.
Palin
won
election
as
governor
in
November
2006.
Under
Alaska’s
election
law,
she
took
office
in
December
2006
—
less
than
a
month
before
a
Jan.
1,
2007,
deadline
imposed
by
the
court
for
implementing
the
same-sex
partner
benefits.
Shortly
before
Palin
took
the
oath
of
office
as
governor,
the
Alaska
Legislature
passed
a
bill
that
defied
the
high
court
ruling
by
prohibiting
the
Alaska
Commissioner
of
Administration
from
providing
the
health
and
pension
benefits
to
same-sex
couples.
The
legislature
also
passed
a
separate
bill
that
called
for
a
non-binding,
advisory
ballot
measure
asking
voters
whether
the
state
should
adopt
a
constitutional
amendment
overturning
the
court’s
decision
on
the
partner
benefits.
On
Dec.
20,
2006,
in
one
of
her
first
legislative
acts,
Palin
signed
the
bill
calling
for
the
advisory
ballot
measure,
saying
it
would
lay
the
groundwork
for
a
state
constitutional
ban
on
the
partner
benefits.
Eight
days
later,
on
Dec.
28,
2006,
she
vetoed
the
bill
seeking
to
block
the
benefits
from
being
offered
to
same-sex
partners
of
state
employees,
saying
her
attorney
general
advised
her
that
the
bill
was
unconstitutional.
“Signing
this
bill
would
be
in
direct
violation
of
my
oath
of
office,”
Palin
said
in
a
statement.
At
the
time
of
the
veto,
Palin
reiterated
her
opposition
to
the
court
ruling
on
the
benefits
issue
as
well
as
her
opposition
to
same-sex
marriage.
“I
believe
that
honoring
the
family
structure
is
that
important,”
Palin
told
the
Anchorage
Daily
News
in
explaining
why
she
opposed
gay
marriage
and
same-sex
partner
benefits
for
state
employees.
The
newspaper
reported
that
Palin
said
she’s
“not
out
to
judge
anyone
and
has
good
friends
who
are
gay.”
Her
strong
religious
views,
which
also
include
opposition
to
abortion,
were
the
underlying
reason
for
her
opposition
to
gay
marriage
and
same-sex
partner
benefits,
she
told
the
Anchorage
Daily
news.
In
April
2007,
Alaska’s
voters
approved
the
advisory
measure
in
support
of
a
constitutional
amendment
to
overturn
the
court’s
decision
on
same-sex
partners
by
a
margin
of
53
percent
to
47
percent.
Marsha
Buck,
co-chair
of
Alaskans
Together
for
Equality,
a
statewide
gay
group
whose
members
campaigned
against
the
advisory
ballot
measure,
said
the
47
percent
vote
opposing
the
measure
shocked
many
of
the
state’s
conservative,
anti-gay
advocates,
who
expected
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