Dear President Stukel,

April 22, 2002

Thank you for meeting with the U of I Domestic Partner Task Force representatives on Friday, April 12, 2002, to discuss the movement on the issue of Domestic Partner Benefits at the University of Illinois. We appreciate you being open to the meeting as well as forthcoming with your intentions to make a recommendation for such benefits at an upcoming Board of Trustees meeting.

We want to reiterate our interest in working with you in the interim. We shared our conversation with you with the entire University of Illinois' Domestic Partner Task Force, composed of faculty, staff, and students at all three campuses. They, too, expressed their desire to assist you in preparing for your recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

To this end, the Task Force did raise the issue of whether or not your recommendation would include students who were in domestic partner relationships. Several of our students have already created such households, and we hope that they, too, will be covered under the student insurance plan in regards to DP status. Another question raised was that of ensuring that these benefits also would apply to the transgender community and be equitable for all individuals of various gender expressions. Furthermore, the question was raised as to how domestic partner benefits would be compensated as CMS has resisted recognizing such partners in the past.

Finally, it was the consensus of the Task Force to reinforce that all three Faculty Senates passed resolutions indicating that domestic partner benefits be extended for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners. While the University's nondiscrimination policy applies to sexual orientation, it also applies to marital status, and it was noted by the Task Force that denying benefits on the basis of marriage not only discriminates against opposite-sex couples but may also discriminate against a same-sex couple where one of the persons is transgender and the couple is unable to marry legally. Certainly, we greatly appreciate your willingness to make your recommendation to the Board, but we ask that you endorse domestic partnership benefits for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

On behalf of Curt McKay and Patricia Morey at UIUC; Pat Langley at UIS; and the entire University of Illinois' Domestic Partner Task Force, thank you, again, for your time and commitment. If we can be of further help, please do not hesitate to call upon us.

Patrick Finnessy, Director
UIC Office of GLBT Concerns

Cc: UIC Chancellor Sylvia Manning; UIUC Chancellor Nancy Cantor; UIS Chancellor Richard D. Ringeisen