Big casinos back domestic partnership law change

The powerful Nevada Resort Association, representing the state's biggest hotel-casinos, joined Friday in support of a domestic partnership bill that may be vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Bill Bible, head of the association, said SB283 would help to ensure the resort industry's thousands of employees have "the fundamental right to the same benefits enjoyed by other Nevadans."

Bible added that the state "grew from a pioneer spirit," adding, "It is only right that this spirit extend to all who live and work here."

The association's endorsement and similar comments from Harrah's Entertainment were praised by Gary Peck of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, who said the domestic partnership bill "is not just a civil rights issue, it's also an economic issue."

SB283 gives domestic partners, whether gay or straight, many of the rights and benefits that Nevada offers to married couples. The measure provides that domestic partners have the same rights as married couples in matters such as community property and responsibility for debts. It also prohibits discrimination against domestic partners.