By: ANDY HUMM | Alaska's Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, a former member of the board of the Salvation Army, opposes giving benefits to state employees in same-sex partnerships, but vetoed a bill banning such benefits because she was advised she would be violating her constitutional oath if she did not. That state's Supreme Court ordered that such benefits commence on January 1, settling a lawsuit that began in 1999, though the regulations established have been faulted as overly cumbersome by gay rights advocates and one lower court state judge.
Alaska bans same-sex marriage in its Constitution. Palin supports a non-binding referendum for this April that will advise the Legislature on whether voters want them to initiate a constitutional amendment banning benefits for same-sex partners, though that process would take several years.
