Employers Pressing For Same-Sex Employees To Marry In Order To Retain Partner Benefits

The Wall Street Journal reports today that as same-sex marriage becomes legal in more states, increasingly employers who had offered health benefits to domestic partners are telling same-sex couples that they must marry in order to retain their partner benefits. However some say that this may pose a problem for same-sex couples.  Because marriage licenses are public, this may end up "outing" an employee who has not publicly disclosed his or her sexual orientation.  Also, because there are no anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community in the majority of states, "outing" could lead to discriminatory actions against the employee or the partner. Employers say they are trying to treat everyone equally. A few large companies have taken an opposite approach and are offering domestic partner benefits to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.