At Temple, who you love won’t change your family’s health coverage.

On Friday, Temple… At Temple, who you love won’t change your family’s health coverage.

On Friday, Temple University reached an agreement to be the first state-related university in Pennsylvania to provide full benefits for same-sex domestic partners of its employees.

The decision, effective April 1, affects about 2300 employees represented by three unions: the Temple University Graduate Students Association, the Temple Association of University Professionals and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The announcement ended more than 10 years of discussion and about 5 months of negotiations between Temple and its employees and has significant implications for the direction of Pennsylvania state-related universities, including Pitt.

AFSCME Local 1723 President Gary Kapanowski called the decision “a major step forward” and said he commends Temple on being “fair and honest” to its employees.

“I think the big stumbling block was a fear by the Temple administration of … conservative Republicans [in the state legislature],” he said, adding that he was pleased to see Temple stop “caving into a fear of short-sighted bigotry.”

Temple is a little bigger than Pitt, with an undergraduate student body of more than 20,000. In the 2000-2001 year, Temple received about $179 million from the state, only $1.6 million more than Pitt.

Neither Pitt nor Temple officials could be reached for comment Friday night.

Read The Pitt News this week for more information