Nevada officials say they will hand out
700 domestic partnership certificates on Thursday, October 1, the
first day the law goes into effect.
The state began accepting applications
for domestic partnerships in late August.
“We have received nearly 700
registration forms,” Pam duPré,
a spokesperson for Secretary of State Ross Miller, told On Top
Magazine in an email.
Because of the month-long
pre-registration period, officials are not expecting a large number
of new applications on the law's opening day, duPré
added.
In announcing the pre-registration
period, Secretary of State Ross Miller said: “October 1 will be a
historic day in Nevada. We would like as many couples as possible to
be a part of it by having their certificates in hand.”
The Nevada Legislature passed the
domestic partner law in June against the wishes of Governor Jim
Gibbons, who vetoed the bill saying it was not necessary. The law
offers gay and lesbian couples limited benefits associated with
marriage, including hospital visitation rights, estate planning and
shared responsibility for debt. The law does not guarantee spouses
health care and other employer-related benefits.
Opponents of the law argue that such
unions are too similar to marriage and go against the will of Nevada
voters who approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage
in 2002.
Despite an ongoing challenge, a similar
limited domestic partnership law went into effect on August 3 in
Wisconsin. But opponents in Washington State have managed to put an
expansion of the state's domestic partnership law on hold and up for
a vote in November.
In Nevada, the law's sponsor, openly
gay Senator David Parks, is expected to hand out licenses in Las
Vegas on October 1. Registering with the state will cost a couple
$50.
CORRECTION: This version removes the
statement that 700 additional couples are expected to apply for a
domestic partnership on Oct. 1.