I'm not gay, but I feel that people are people, no matter what their sexual orientation is. Gay men and women often live in domestic partnerships, because they can't get married. Straight folks also live in domestic partnerships for whatever reason. If the term "domestic partnerships" covers homosexual, heterosexual, and transgendered people, why is there such inequality?Â Health insurance benefits should be available to everyone who is supported by an employer who offers those benefits to married men and women. Domestic partners are often thought of as men and women who live together without being married; however, the term also includes homosexual partners. Gay people have had to fight for every inch of their civil rights as human beings. We, who are heterosexuals don't think twice about the benefits we have. Heterosexual men and women can fall in love, get married and live happily ever after; however, men and women of the same sexual orientation cannot validate their love in the eyes of the law in most states. Currently Massachusetts and Connecticut are the only states that recognize gay marriage.

With the benefit of marriage you have other benefits as well. For instance, when you are married you and your spouse can be covered by group health insurance by your employer. Is it just as easy for domestic partners to have access to those same health insurance benefits? It really depends on the benevolence of the employer. What is commonly accepted for married heterosexual couples is not accepted for homosexual couples in a civil union, or domestic partnership.

Some states, such as New York and California have become more enlightened than some other states. Even with Proposition 8, California still is far ahead of some other states. Homosexual domestic partnerships are accepted in the same fashion that heterosexual domestic partnerships are. The words "Domestic Partnership" include hetero and homosexual partnerships.

All states do not see eye to eye about the subject of homosexual marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships. If you are homosexual, and you marry in Massachusetts or Connecticut and you move to Georgia, Alabama, or some other state you won't be married in those other states. Why is it that marriage of a man and woman is legal in all states, so that if you are married in Massachusetts you are married in all states, but the same is not true if you are homosexual and married? Why don't all state legislatures' half-way, at least, agree that homosexual people are human too, and should not be penalized for being who they are? It truly does depend on the benevolence of an employer in some states whether men and women in domestic partnerships are deserving of health care benefits.

Our country, the United States of America, is not united in any way, shape or form. The United States is the only country in the world that does not have universal health care. This means that if you are denied health insurance benefits you cannot have access to medical care if you don't have health insurance. Yes, you can go to a doctor's office and pay $100 or more for a visit. You can go to an emergency department of your local hospital and be seen. If you don't have the money to pay for that visit your health care expenses will go into collection and your credit will be ruined, so that you could never buy a car or a house on credit.

People who are married do have their problems with health insurance. They may not be able to afford the premiums, but at least they aren't discriminated against because they are part of a domestic partnership. Straight people in domestic partnerships sometimes have problems getting health insurance also, because they are not united in marriage. If two people have are living together as domestic partners, why can't they be eligible for insurance? Marriage doesn't guarantee stability, so why can't domestic partnerships be considered just as stable as a married partnership? Today, more people live together as domestic partners, and they have families just like married people do. Why aren't they eligible for health insurance everywhere?

Domestic partnerships are gaining ground, though. If an employer accepts domestic partners they don't exclude homosexuals, for the most part. However, some states still do separate gay and straight domestic partnerships, and allow for gay partners to have access to health care, and not the straight couples. Why should it matter how one has sex to be eligible for health insurance?