Rochester approves domestic partner registry

On Wednesday evening, Rochester became the fifth community in Minnesota to approve a domestic partner registry for same-sex couples. By a 6-to-1 vote, the city council approved the measure, adding Rochester to a list of cities — Edina, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth — that provide such a registry.

“This, to me, is not an issue of policy, it’s a matter of human rights,” council member Michael Wojcik said before the vote. “If you ask me how long it takes me to vote on a question of human rights, it’s not one minute.”

The vote prompted a glowing review from the editorial board of the Rochester Post-Bulletin:

It’s never too soon to do the right thing. That’s the rationale that compelled the Rochester City Council to publicly and legally affirm the basic right of all Olmsted County residents to visit a loved one in a time of medical crisis — even if that loved one is a same-sex partner. Compassion won out over fear, and Rochester proved that it’s ready and willing to live up to its claim of being an “inclusive community.”