The Pensacola City Council voted 8-1 tonight in favor of an ordinance creating a domestic partnership registry for the city.
The following statement on the council’s vote may be attributed to ACLU of Florida Northwest Regional Director, Sara Latshaw:
“This is a victory for everyone in Pensacola. With the new domestic partnership registry, all families will have access to tools to help them securely build a life together and protect their loved ones.â€
“The domestic partnership registry will fulfill the promise that Pensacola is a welcoming community where we treat our neighbors with fairness by allowing couples – regardless of gender – to make important financial, medical, and emergency decisions together. Our city joins with cities and counties making up over 55% of the state’s population in granting these important rights to its citizens through a domestic partnership registry.â€
“Today’s vote is the culmination of years of work from many people within our community to build support for this ordinance and demonstrate why these protections are so badly needed. I’m proud to have worked with my fellow members of the Pensacola Alliance for Equality in achieving this victory for Pensacola. We also thank the members of the council who voted in favor of the ordinance, especially Councilman Johnson, without whose courage today’s victory wouldn’t have happened.”
