YMCA: Gay Families Aren't Families - But Give
Us Your Business
The Associated Press
Posted: October 20, 2004 7:43 am ET
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(Durham, North Carolina) The YMCA of the Triangle Area will charge gay couples with children the same membership fees as heterosexual families but won't call them "families" under a new policy.
Grandparents with dependent grandchildren, couples with foster children and children living with adults who are their legal guardians will also benefit from the new policy, said the Y's chief executive officer Doug McMillan.In the case of a gay or unmarried couple with children, the change would allow one adult with dependent children to enroll in one category and the second adult to enroll separately, he said.
The two membership fees are equal to or less than the fee paid by a husband and wife with children.
"Change is hard," McMillan said. "We wanted to be fair and equitable to everybody. The structure we had left the staff making several exceptions .Teresa Sakash, a member of YMCA for All, a local group that lobbied the YMCA to charge all families the same membership rates, called the decision "a victory with an asterisk."
"It's an imperfect solution from my end," said Teresa Sakash, also a Duke University law student. "I'm of the mindset that progress is incremental. Any forward movement is positive movement."
The new policy affects all Triangle area YMCA chapters, but has only been implemented so far in Durham, McMillan said.
The old policy charged gay couples at the Durham YMCA $22 more a month than married couples. and drew criticism from some Durham City Council members and Duke University officials.
In August, Duke ended an agreement to promote the YMCA in its employee literature in exchange for Duke employees receiving discounted memberships.