The first couple ... and only so far as this writing ... to register their relationship with Salt Lake City's Mutual Commitment Registry is Brandie Balken and Lisa LeDuc. The openly-lesbian couple entered the Salt Lake City Recorder's office amid a throng of news media.
Balken exclaimed, "fantastic," when acting city recorder Chris Meeker told the couple they were the first on the registry.
The couple were required by the city to provide three forms proving mutual dependence, sign a statement that they are "in a relationship of mutual support, caring, and commitment, and are responsible for each other’s welfare," and prove they share a Salt Lake City residence.
Balken and LeDuc have been together for seven years, sharing a home in the Sugar House neighborhood. They said the $25 fee for the certificate was tremendously less expensive than the $2,500 it cost to go through a lawyer to draw legal documents concerning their estate.
Balken is a native Utahn who has spent the last 15 years as an activist for many causes including Food Not Bombs, Seeds of Peace, The Western Shoshone Defense Project, The Nat'l Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality Utah, and SweRve. She is also a radio host on KRCL and a former columnist with Salt Lake Metro, which is now QSaltLake.
See Salt Lake City's First ... Mutual Commitments
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