Domestic partner registration opens

Today marked the first day Nevada couples could begin registering as domestic partners in advance of a new law that takes effect in October.

Same- and opposite-sex couples who apply soon could receive their certificates of domestic partnership as early as Oct. 1.

That's the day a new state law goes into effect extending rights similar to those held by married couples to cohabitating couples, whether gay or straight, who register.

Applications will be accepted at the secretary of state's office. There is a $50 fee, and the applications must be notarized.

The domestic partners statute creates a civil contract that allows qualifying couples to receive "the same rights, protections, benefits, responsibilities, obligations and duties" as married couples. It stops short of calling the couples "married" under Nevada law.

Kaye Crawford, a founder of the Reno Gay Pride festival, said many in the gay community are excited about the law.

"I believe in equality, and it looks like we're getting that recognition, the recognition that we're not weirdos or different," Crawford said. "That all has changed."

Anthony Hall, a Reno lawyer who specializes in labor and employment law, said employers need to understand how the law affects them to guard against discrimination lawsuits.

It does not require businesses to offer benefits to domestic partners, but it also says an employer can't discriminate, he said.

"There's an apparent ambiguity in the law," he said, so businesses should decide how they want to handle their benefit offerings.

Also, he said employers and workers should now be aware that domestic partners are covered under the Federal Family Medical Leave Act, which allows a worker to take time off work to care for an ailing spouse.

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On the Net:

Nevada Secretary of State: www.nvsos.gov