Starkville, Mississippi Mayor Parker
Wiseman on Friday announced that the city will offer domestic partner
benefits to its LGBT employees.
The move makes Starkville the state's
first governmental entity to offer such benefits, according to The
Clarion-Ledger.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen
unanimously approved the measure.
According to the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, the benefits
include medical coverage.
“Loving LGBT couples should have
equal access to medical care, and we applaud the Mayor and the Board
of Aldermen for their leadership on this critical issue,” said HRC
Mississippi Director Rob Hill. “This measure successfully provides
the necessary benefits that the partners of hardworking LGBT city
workers deserve, and the city of Starkville demonstrated its
commitment to uphold the Golden Rule by treating them with dignity
and respect.”
The campus of Mississippi State
University, the state's largest university, is located directly to
the east of Starkville and is the city's largest employer.