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Arson Follows Suit over Domestic Partner Benefits
A lesbian couple and their child were the victims of an arson attack in February after the women filed suit against the University of Montana in an attempt to get domestic partner benefits. One of the women, Carla Grayson, is a professor of psychology at the Missoula institution. The lawsuit argues that the university’s refusal to give benefits to same-sex partners of university faculty and staff violates the Montana constitution by discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, and marital status. Another couple affiliated with the university and Pride, a gay-rights group, are also parties to the lawsuit.
The day after filing the suit, both couples received threatening letters filled with white powder. A few days later, the house where Grayson lived with her partner, Adrianne Neff, and their son was set on fire in the middle of the night. The house was gutted, but the family escaped through a window. The fire is not classified as a hate crime, because Montana does not include sexual orientation as a protected class. Police are treating it as an attempted triple homicide.
After the fire, the city and university community rallied around Grayson and Neff. Hundreds of people attended several events to show support for the women. The mayor of Missoula, the university president, and the student body president at the university denounced the attack and asked people to wear pink triangles to demonstrate their support. The student government distributed preprinted postcards supporting domestic partner benefits and addressed to the university’s board of regents for people to mail in. The university has not changed its position on domestic partner benefits, but a city council member asked the Missoula city government to look into offering them to city employees. "It’s important for the city to set an example," the council member told the Missoula Independent. "It’s important for the university to set an example. As public institutions, we should be at the forefront of civil rights."
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