March 1, 2007 – Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders Civil Rights Project Director Mary Bonauto testified yesterday before the Joint Standing Committee on Labor in support of expanding Maine’s Family and Medical Leave Act to cover the state’s LGBT workers.

The bill, L.D. 375, would amend the state’s law to include Maine’s LGBT workers, whose families are not covered by the Family Medical Leave Act—leaving them to make the impossible choice between keeping their jobs and attending to their families’ needs.

 “Family medical leave is a sensible and compassionate response to the reality that all families at some point face medical crises,” Bonauto said. “Because gay and lesbian people can’t marry in Maine, they are currently barred from this and many more of the rights and benefits their straight co-workers enjoy.”

Bonauto’s testimony, as well as a listing of protections automatically denied committed same-sex couples, can be read at www.glad.org.

Nearly 4,000 Maine households are comprised of same-sex couples, according to the 2000 U.S. census. Many of these families are raising children – nearly 30% of female partner households have a child under 18, as do about 20% of male partner households.

The committee heard testimony from Sandy Osterby and Charles Dwyer, who took care of seriously ill partners while trying to keep their jobs, as well as representatives of the Maine AFL-CIO and Equality Maine. 

The bill is supported by American Cancer Society, EqualityMaine, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine AIDS Alliance, Maine Center for Economic Policy, Maine Children’s Alliance, Maine Civil Liberties Union, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Maine Equal Justice Project, Maine Women’s Lobby, Maine People’s Alliance, National Association of Social Workers – Maine Chapter, National Organization for Women – Portland Chapter, and National Organization for Women – Maine Chapter.

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England’s leading legal rights organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status.  GLAD is active in all six New England states.

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