Sometimes it takes a village, but sometimes it takes just one person to help move the village into the 21st Century.
For more than a decade, University of Illinois employees have been seeking benefits for their same-sex partners on par with their
heterosexual, married colleagues. It was not just a matter of equal access, but also would put the university on the same playing field
with nearly 200 other colleges and universities around the country. It would help U of I attract top-notch faculty.
For more than a year, even University President James Stukel was among those backing a same-sex benefits plan. But despite
pickets at a Feb. 13 Board of Trustees meeting in Chicago, the Trustees once again tabled the matter.
But one new member of the Board, plaintiff’s attorney Devon Bruce of Power, Rogers & Smith, appointed by incoming Gov. Rod
Blagojevich, took charge and made sure the issue came to a vote sooner rather than always later. At the July 17 meeting, the
measure finally passed, 6-2, with one Trustee absent.
Unfortunately, the plan will still seem to many as separate and unequal.
‘These are not full benefits,’ said Patrick Finnessy, director of the Office of GLBT Concerns & The Rainbow Resource at the U of I
at Chicago. ‘This is a reimbursement plan. My partner would have to go out and seek insurance and be reimbursed by the school. So
if someone has a pre-existing condition, they can be denied coverage.’ Finnessy said he was told the insurance carrier which covers
the state plan does not offer DP benefits, and therefore the university can only reimburse partners’ expenses for the health and dental
coverage.
Other ‘soft’ benefits accorded to heterosexual partners, including bereavement leave, already are supposed to cover GLBTs,
Finnessy said, but that is often left up to the discretion of supervisors. Therefore, it is inconsistently administered, he said.
‘Some people are very excited, saying it is a positive step, sign me up,’ Finnessy said. ‘Others are indicating this isn’t going to
help. The university estimates between 80-100 people will sign up,’ a small percentage of the 23,000 full-time employees.
The plan will cover just the U of I Chicago, Urbana-Champaign and Springfield campuses. Northern, Northeastern, Illinois State,
and Southern have their own boards.
Finnessy said while the issue was being debated, there were some faculty members who received appointments who turned U of
I down because of the lack of DP benefits. ‘The Trustees knew this was happening,’ he said.
‘It’s an issue I feel very strongly about,’ Bruce told Windy City Times Monday. When he first joined the board in February, his
colleagues convinced him to delay until the legislative session was concluded—to see if gay-rights legislation was passed.
‘The legislature did not pass any such bills, so I immediately took it upon myself to ask my colleagues to put this on the July
agenda and vote for it then—make it policy,’ Bruce said.
The resolution does say the university must grant the same benefits to same-sex partners (not unmarried heterosexuals), but as
Finnessy stated, there may be a discrepancy since the partners would not be allowed on the same health and dental plan. ‘If that
becomes a problem we will have to revisit the issue,’ Bruce said.
The 33-year-old Bruce, a double-degree graduate of the U of I Springfield (undergraduate and law degrees), said he came to the
issue of gay rights easily. ‘I feel very passionately about fundamental fairness and civil rights,’ he said. ‘I was adamant that this issue
was going to be placed for a vote even if it failed—I was adamant that we have a public discourse on this issue.’
There were several key arguments Bruce attempted to address, including cost. First, he said, this is an issue of basic civil rights,
so that should not be about expense. In addition, the estimated cost is between $300,000-$400,000 a year, a tiny percentage of the
system’s $3.7 billion budget.
‘Also on the cost issue, the university is among the foremost in the country and the world. We attract world-recognized scholars to
come and teach at our campuses. By not adopting a policy like this, you are sending the wrong message. When these scholars come,
they bring a lot of federal dollars and private grants and contracts—they help pay for lab space, graduate assistants, research. If you
lose just one of those individuals, now the cost is a wash.’
‘One of the Trustees said if we do this, the other state schools will have to do it,’ Bruce said. ‘I responded that ‘yes, I certainly
hope so.’ I think we should set an example.’
Seven private schools in Illinois offer same-sex partners coverage, including Northwestern and the University of Chicago. Seven
other Big Ten schools are also on board with same-sex benefits.