CA OK's Unemployment Benefits for Gay Partners

The California assembly Wednesday passed the Unemployment Benefits Act, which would ensure that registered same-sex couples in the state have access to unemployment benefits.

According to Equality California, the bill would ensure that same-sex couples who plan to register as domestic partners have the same access to unemployment benefits that married heterosexual couples have. Heterosexual couples who plan to marry are eligible for unemployment benefits if one of the partners loses his or her job. If passed by the senate and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill would extend the same rights to same-sex couples planning to enter a domestic partnership.

"Two adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in a committed relationship, whether registered or not, need this protection," said Hector De La Torre, a Democrat from South Gate, who introduced the bill .