Purdue trustees OK ending benefits for same-sex partners

West Lafayette, Ind. (AP) — Purdue University's trustees have approved ending benefits for same-sex domestic partners of school employees in light of the legalization of gay marriage.

The resolution approved Saturday will end the same-sex partner benefits on Jan. 1, 2017.

Purdue approved same-sex partner benefits in 2002, including medical insurance, which are the same benefits opposite-sex married employees enjoy.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states in June.

Purdue vice president for human resources Trent Klingerman says after that ruling Purdue realized it could not continue offering such benefits to same-sex domestic partners while not offering them to opposite-sex domestic partners.

Klingerman says doing so "would create an unequal and potentially discriminatory environment."

Several other universities, including Indiana University and the University of Minnesota, have already taken the same step.

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The Gayly – December 20, 2015 @ 12:20 p.m.