Distinguished Service Award to Sanja Partalo

Presented by former GLAA President Bob Summersgill

GLAA 37th Anniversary Reception
Washington Plaza Hotel
Thursday, April 17, 2008

The most over-looked people in our legislative process are the Council staff. They don’t get their names in the paper unless there is a scandal; they work in the shadow of the Councilmembers who take credit for their successes; they do the hard and detailed work that goes into legislation; and they almost never win awards. Tonight, GLAA is presenting only the third award in its history to go to a council staffer.

Sanja Partalo is a former staff member in Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Councilmember Phil Mendelson—himself a past honoree—and in that capacity worked extensively on the Domestic Partnership Equality Act of 2005, which is the most significant piece of gay-rights legislation in more than a decade. It covered every issue that we identified as high priority, and many those identified as medium priority. Among other things in this lengthy, complicated, and technical bill are:

• Immunity from testimony, establishing private communication protections similar to those that an individual has with a spouse, clergy, lawyer, and doctor;
• Power of Attorney to manage a partner's legal responsibilities;
• The equivalent of pre-marital agreements;
• Obligation to support a partner after a breakup, similar to alimony or palimony;
• Standing to sue for negligence causing death;
• Rights of surviving partners and children in the event of death;
• Rules for dying intestate (without a will) and other issues of inheritance.

Sanja showed a nuanced understanding of the bill and the goals behind it, and rewrote much of it after the legislative hearing. Her work contributed significantly to the bill’s success.

Sanja also worked on the "Omnibus Public Safety Act of 2005.." Again this was a very long, complicated and technical bill. It was drafted by Mayor Williams’ office as a compilation of numerous other bills in an inconsistent and jumbled mess.

With Phil Mendelson’s approval, Sanja added numerous elements to the bill that helped our communities enormously. Most of the criminal code now explicitly includes domestic partners on issues such as domestic violence.

The final version of the bill repealed the last of the criminal laws used by the police to harass and intimidate gay men in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. Although the “Solicitation for Lewd and Immoral Purposes” (SLIP) laws have not been enforceable since 1974, their repeal has remained one of our goals. GLAA is nothing if not tenacious.

The original bill also would have been a nightmare for transgendered people, essentially allowing the police to operate as if all transgender people are prostitutes and treat them as criminals for walking down the street. This was significantly modified to avoid profiling and striking the unconstitutional aspects.

These bills were major steps in getting all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage added to domestic partnerships. This week Phil and Jack Evans [as well as Carol Schwartz - ed.] introduced the last two bills expanding domestic partnerships. When they have passed, hopefully by the end of the year, only Massachusetts will have better laws for gay couples.

After leaving Phil’s office, she went to work at the D.C. Department of Health. I had the pleasure of working with her their as well on implementation of the smokefree workplace law. The law has worked out far better than I expected, largely because of how well the implementation was handled by Sanja and others in the Department of Health. All of the exceptions and loopholes were limited to just those where they were truly appropriate and the businesses that tried to skirt the law were prodded into compliance. No bar or restaurant closed as a result of the law. No business sought a financial hardship waiver. Any many bars and restaurants report an increase in business. The smokefree law has allowed thousands of people with various medical conditions—including HIV—to once again be able to safely enjoy the nightlife, dramatically improved the health of people who work in bars and restaurants, and made going out much more pleasant for everyone.

Sanja was instrumental in making all of this happen. Legislation is a group activity, but in the end the difficult detail work falls to someone. Sanja was there for us making sure that our needs and concerns were always addressed and often anticipated. She found things that we missed and took care of them. We owe her a great deal of thanks for her behind the scenes work, so I am very pleased to present the GLAA Distinguished Service Award to Sanja Partalo.