Couples can register as domestic partners starting Monday

CARSON CITY -- Thousands of couples are expected to begin filing applications Monday to register as domestic partners, a step allowed under a state law that goes into effect Oct. 1, Secretary of State Ross Miller said Tuesday.

"Gauging on the inquiries we have received, we expect a very, very high volume," Miller said. "That is why we are offering preregistration."

By applying for a domestic partnership certificate now, Miller said, couples will be guaranteed they will receive it on Oct. 1.

With the certificate, same- and opposite-sex couples will have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples.

One of those sending in paperwork early is Las Vegan Earl Shelton, who has been with his partner, Richard Kuta, for nine years.

"We really want to be a part of the first batch," said Shelton, 30.

Shelton said he and Kuta each have power of attorney over the other but a domestic partnership means a lot more.

"It is amazing. ... I think being able to register as domestic partners is pretty significant," he said. "It feels like we're taking a giant leap forward."

A dozen states, including California, and many cities have civil union or domestic partnership laws. Five states allow gay marriage.

The enabling law states that a Nevada domestic partnership is not a marriage. It also states that companies are not obligated to offer health care and other benefits to the domestic partners of their employees, although they are free to do so if they want.

"October 1 is shaping up to be a very important and festive day for many Nevadans," Miller said.

He plans to hand out domestic partnership certificates on that morning on the steps of the state Capitol. Certificates will be mailed to couples who do not want to attend this ceremony or visit the office.

There is a $50 fee, and the application must be notarized. For the fee, couples receive a black-and-white certificate. For $15 more, they can get a more colorful ceremonial certificate with the seal of Nevada, bighorn sheep and mountain bluebird illustrations.

"This is definitely a step up," said Rachelle Foreman, a Las Vegas woman who has been in a relationship for three years. She said she will file with her partner for a certificate. "We were hoping someday this would happen."

The law is important for same-sex couples who want to make medical decisions for each other and be allowed to visit each other in the hospital, Foreman said. And the law might encourage more gay couples to visit or move to Las Vegas, she said.

Tod Story, a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, praised Miller for making it easier to file for domestic partnerships by permitting preregistrations.

"It is a good idea," he said. "It is hugely important to allow people to preregister."

Story could not predict how many couples will seek domestic partnerships, but he noted that Las Vegas has a large gay and lesbian population.

He said he and his partner of 17 years will take advantage of the new law, which he said will help couples in making decisions regarding inheritances and wills.

Names of couples who file for domestic partnerships are public record, as are names of people who seek marriage licenses.

Miller noted that the law does not require couples to go through a solemnization ceremony, although they could choose to if they want.

The secretary of state said the fee is slightly less than the cost of county-issued marriage licenses in Nevada. The fee for a marriage license in Clark County is $60.

After handing out certificates Oct. 1 at the state Capitol, Miller will go to his office in Las Vegas that afternoon to continue handing them out with the help of Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the author of the domestic partnership bill.

The bill was vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons, but both houses of the Legislature voted to override the veto.

Gibbons, who signed a law prohibiting discrimination against gays in public accommodations, said the domestic partnership law was not necessary. He said gay couples could secure the same rights by executing legal contracts.

But Parks said securing legal contracts through lawyers was an expensive burden that couples should not have to endure.

He expects that at least 250 couples will apply for domestic partnerships in the first few days. In Wisconsin, 442 couples sought domestic partnerships the first week the law was in effect, Parks said.

Under the law, there is no prohibition on same- or opposite-sex couples from other states applying for a Nevada domestic partnership. But the legislation says the responsibilities and rights they acquire pertain to laws "in this state," not to those in another state where they may be living.

Still, Nevada law requires the state to recognize "a legal union of two persons" from other states and jurisdictions where domestic partnerships are substantially equivalent to those here.

Parks anticipates some out-of-state residents will seek Nevada domestic partnerships, even though they have no effect in their home states.

He said a couple from St. George, Utah, called him and expressed concern that they have nothing to show when they travel that they are a couple devoted to each other.

"They told me a story about two women who have been together for 19 years or 20 years," Parks said. "One got sick in Orlando (Fla.) and was hospitalized."

If they could have shown a domestic partnership contract, Parks said, the hospital might have allowed them to stay together in the room and make medical arrangements.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Mike Blasky contributed to this report. Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel@ reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.