Californian law is being blamed for stopping a gay Air New Zealand employee from taking his partner on a prize trip, which the airline stated in its documentation could be shared with a 'spouse'. The problem lies with USA-based Northwest Airlines which entered into an agreement with Air NZ stating that the tickets, given away at a staff party, could be used by a fellow employee, dependent partner or spouse. But Northwest subsequently declined Ron Anders' request to take his partner Patrick Shay to Florida, saying it had to comply with Californian law which requires the term 'domestic partner' be used on documentation rather than 'spouse.' Because of this legal technicality, Northwest does not recognise Shay as being Anders' spouse.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 27th February 2006 - 12:00pm