A step toward equal treatment

Ten years ago, when renowned author Edmund White was a tenured professor at Brown University, his lover became ill. The cause was AIDS, and the tragedy of the diagnosis was deepened by the fact that White's partner did not have health insurance. The two were forced to leave Brown and return to France where they could afford the costly and long-term treatments.

Had the two been married, of course, White's partner would have received spousal benefits from Brown. But because they were gay and thus could not marry, he received nothing.

"I felt like a second-class citizen," White said.

Brown "recognized the value [of providing domestic partner benefits] in principle and was striving toward it," White recalled. However, the university had not yet allocated the funds, and by the time it did in 1994, it was too late for White.

Though Brown's policy was hardly unusual in 1990, domestic partner benefits — which extend the same fringe benefits to non-married partners as to married spouses — are increasingly common in the working world. According to a study this year by the Human Rights Campaign — a Washington-based gay, lesbian and transgender action organization — 118 colleges and universities, including Princeton, now offer benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of employees, as do 3,458 other employers nationwide. This includes more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, IBM and Citigroup. In addition, the Big Three automakers and Coca-Cola both announced in June that they would extend benefits.

For Princeton, the domestic benefits policy — in place since 1994 — helps both to lure professors and other employees to the University and keep them here, and to signal a welcoming environment for lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals on campus.

The policy was a deciding factor for White when he chose three years ago to accept a job at the University.

"One of the reasons Princeton was able to get me," he said, "was because of the domestic partner health coverage." He was not going to make the same mistake twice.

Brown also now offers domestic partner coverage, as does every other Ivy League institution except Cornell University — which offers coverage only to the faculty in its statutory, or public, colleges, according to an employee in its human resources department.

White said he believes his case was probably one of the factors that drove Brown to institute domestic partner benefits. At the time, Brown administrators said the decision to expand the eligibility criteria was made primarily to ensure that the university would remain competitive in recruiting and retaining faculty and staff, according to Douglas Stewart, the director of Brown's benefits office.

"We believe that our policies have a positive influence in our ability to recruit and retain faculty and staff," Stewart said in an e-mail.

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Princeton faculty members affirmed Stewart's sentiment that domestic partner benefits packages can help attract and retain gay and lesbian employees.

"This can be a drawing card when the University is courting a new employee who might have a domestic partner," said Robin Moscato, an associate director in financial aid who was co-chair of the task force that worked to implement these benefits in the early 1990s.

"It is more attractive when you are looking at a place where you can provide benefits to your family," Moscato added.

Moscato's partner is insured under her own employer, as is the couple's daughter. However, she has seen the direct impact of this policy on employees without such options.

She described one faculty member — who has since left the University — who was forced to pay for private insurance for her partner and their two children because the University did not cover them.

The expense was a substantial burden, Moscato explained, and it was "a tremendous benefit to her when she was able to cover her entire family."

The value of domestic partner benefits goes far beyond practical or financial concerns. As a companion to the University's non-discrimination policy — which includes sexual orientation — it signals the administration's commitment to LGBT faculty and staff.

"You are being told something about where you fit in the community once you get there," explained Michael Cadden, director of Princeton's theater and dance program, who said his experiences during his 18 years at the University, in terms of acceptance of his sexuality, have been "largely positive." The extension of benefits to same-sex partners, Cadden added, says that "ours is a community of many different kinds of people, all of whom are welcome."

Moscato called the policy a "practical manifestation of an otherwise theoretical policy that says you are welcome in the community here."

"It was a very concrete thing the University did to say [LGBT employees] are welcome and part of this community," she added.

Nick Setteducato, the lesbian, gay, bisexual concerns coordinator in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, said he also feels the policy signals "Princeton's administrative commitment to the LGB community."

As evidenced by the experience of these faculty members, that commitment appears to be quite high.

"I don't think they could possibly be more well-intentioned," White said of the University administration. "People are very respectful of identity politics."

Setteducato agreed. "The amount of support here is exceptional," he said.

A recent University of Pennsylvania graduate, Setteducato said he was skeptical at first about coming to Princeton, which he expected to have a very conservative environment. While interviewing for his position, however, every interaction he had with faculty and administrators was positive.

"It doesn't surprise me at all" that the University would offer benefits to same-sex partners, Setteducato continued, adding that he guessed the "open-mindedness of the faculty and staff helped push that and make it an issue."

Moscato, who said she has always "felt a fairly high degree of comfort" at the University, said "the extension of benefits not only affirmed the feeling I had of feeling comfortable and safe in the University community, but increased the comfort level of others."

Domestic partner benefits are not without their detractors, however. The Walt Disney Co. drew fire from conservative lawmakers and was boycotted by the Southern Baptist Convention when it decided to extend benefits to the partners of gay employees.

In the academic world, Grand Valley State University in Michigan recently reneged on a decision to offer benefits for same-sex partners. In Ohio, the state legislature threatened to cut funding to public colleges that institute domestic partner benefits.

At Princeton, however, the instituting of domestic partner benefits went quite smoothly. Once the University added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy, regulations were quickly changed to concur with that statement, Moscato recalled.

There was, she said, "very little resistance and a great deal of support" for domestic partner benefits, and "the University acted very quickly." The whole process of considering and implementing benefits took only two academic years, she noted.

Despite the controversy that sometimes erupts, White said he believes most Americans are likely to support domestic partner benefits policies — regardless of their views on homosexuality. If you ask Americans whether they approve of homosexual relationships, he explained, a relatively high proportion will say that they do not. However, if you ask the same people whether homosexuals should be given the same benefits in the workplace as heterosexuals enjoy, a much higher proportion will agree that they should.

The difference, White said, is that when people discuss equality of benefits, they "invoke the principle of fairness, which Americans feel very strongly about."

The impact of the University's benefits packages on the climate for LGBT faculty of course cannot be quantified. And the importance to students of having visible homosexuals on campus cannot be overlooked.

Greg Colon '01, a co-president of the Pride Alliance, said, "It is incredibly important and comforting to have faculty members who are visibly part of our community." Though he praised the deans and other members of the administration for their support for and sensitivity to LGBT concerns, he said there are "certain issues that only come up if they actually are members of our community."

Echoing the LGBT faculty members' perceptions, Colon said his experience with the administration has been very positive. "I've found [the administration] to be incredibly open, supportive and always willing to help us out," he said.

Whether fostered by the University's stance or arising independently, a similar commitment can be found among undergraduates. "I think the generation of undergraduate students now at Princeton is probably about as evolved as any has been in America," White said.