Gay and lesbian couples want to qualify for domestic partner insurance benefits that married couples receive, and Ohio State President William “Brit” Kirwan is supportive of their request – which has caused quite a controversy.

“Personal attitudes on homosexuality are changing. There is no question that many more companies are providing domestic partner benefits than there were ten years ago,” Kirwan said.

According to Kirwan, there are two ways in which the university could recognize domestic partners. One avenue would be for state government to recognize same-sex unions. This union would be like a marriage, however, partners would be required to sign an affidavit.

“There are much stricter requirements for gay and lesbian couples to qualify to sign an affidavit than it is for a heterosexual couple to get married,” said Zach Waymer, program coordinator for student health insurance.

Among the requirements are that the couple must have been living together for at least six months, and the couple must be financially dependent upon each other.

The second way domestic partners could qualify for benefits is for the insurance companies to increase their coverage for people who have alternative relationships.

Waymer and a small group of other gay and lesbian students have been working towards implementing some domestic benefits.

There are two groups of domestic benefits: hard benefits such as health care, medical, vision, dental, prescription drugs and tuition reimbursement, and soft benefits such as group life insurance, global care services, family medical leave and discounts on special events.

Waymer, along with Kirwan and others, is working toward implementing some soft benefits for OSU faculty, staff and students.

In order for OSU to offer domestic partners hard benefits, a proposal would have to be passed through the Board of Trustees.

“We’re doing this in a nickel and dime fashion because our board is not ready to move forward on this issue. These (soft benefits) are things that can add value to employees’ experiences,” Waymer said.

In order for the university to offer domestic partners some soft benefits, Kirwan plans on making some executive decisions. According to Waymer, Kirwan wants to inform the board on what is happening.

“We’ve looked at the benefit structure and picked it apart. We did our homework and found out what actions we could take now,” Waymer said.

Ohio State is one of the five remaining universities in the Big Ten who do not offer their faculty, staff and students domestic partner benefits. Among the Big Ten Universities, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and – as of last week – Indiana University all offer hard domestic partner benefits.

“Times change. Just like the turnover of presidents, there will be a turnover of board members,” Kirwan said.

Kirwan said as families change, there are different dependencies that society needs to begin to recognize.

“I do feel that attitudes in our nation are becoming more accepting of alternative lifestyles. Therefore we need the extension of benefits,” Kirwan said.

Kirwan attempted to get the University of Maryland to accept domestic partner benefits but was unsuccessful. He understands this is a complicated issue.

“It is important for those of us who support domestic partner benefits to recognize that those who do not support domestic partner benefits feel that there are very important principles at stake,” Kirwan said.

The chairman of the Board of Trustees, David Brennan, was unavailable for comment.