California DP bill signed in remembrance of 9/11

A gay California man whose partner died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks--and whose passionate testimony propelled legislation to provide partial inheritance rights for registered domestic partners in California--will attend a ceremony to witness Gov. Gray Davis's signing of the bill into law on Tuesday.

Keith Bradkowski's life partner, Jeff Collman, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center last year. The couple, who had been in a committed relationship for 11 years, were registered domestic partners in California and mistakenly believed that the law already included inheritance protections.

"Keith's situation would have been much more straightforward if this law had been in effect a year ago," said Jennifer Pizer, senior attorney for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, who represents Bradkowski with respect to the federal government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.