By: Paul Goldberg, Senior Editor | JRL CHARTS – LGBT Politics San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — (July 31, 2025) — A proposal by openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey to dismantle the city’s landmark Equal Benefits Ordinance (EBO) has ignited a political firestorm within the LGBTQ+ community, raising concerns over potential erosion of hard-fought protections.
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Originally passed in 1996, the Equal Benefits Ordinance prohibits the city from contracting with businesses that fail to offer domestic partner benefits equal to those of married employees. Dorsey argues the law, while once groundbreaking, is now outdated in a post–Obergefell v. Hodges era where same-sex marriage is legally recognized.
In a letter to the Board of Supervisors Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office, Dorsey requested an official cost analysis, suggesting the repeal could open the door for broader bidding eligibility and competitive savings for the city’s $5.8 billion contracting budget.
“If we can achieve even a marginal five percent in savings, we’re talking about $290 million — more than the entire budget of our Recreation and Park Department,” Dorsey wrote.
Today, I’m asking the @SFBOS Budget and Legislative Analyst to research costs associated with our Equal Benefits Ordinance, which mandates domestic partner benefits that were once — but no longer — the only chance gay and lesbian couples had for equal employment benefits.
(1/12) pic.twitter.com/3nPgA0M3rg— Matt Dorsey (@mattdorsey) July 29, 2025
However, LGBTQ+ leaders aren’t convinced.
Former Supervisor and ordinance author Tom Ammiano called Dorsey’s plan “cavalier,” warning that dismantling the law now — amid escalating national attacks on LGBTQ+ rights — is both “premature” and “alarming.”
“Especially with the Supreme Court flirting with the rollback of gay marriage and anti-trans rhetoric on the rise, this is a dangerous message,” Ammiano told the Chronicle.
Dorsey says any repeal effort would include a trigger clause, reinstating the EBO automatically if Obergefell is overturned. He also defended the move as a fiscal responsibility effort, not an ideological one.
“It’s not about ending benefits,” he wrote. “It’s about understanding what we’re spending — and if those laws are still making a difference.”
Fellow gay Supervisor Rafael Mandelman echoed the need for caution:
“The EBO has a really important history. We need to treat it with care.”
This isn’t Dorsey’s first swing at reform. In 2023, he supported lifting the city’s ban on doing business with companies based in anti-LGBTQ+ or anti-abortion states — another move critics said traded principle for practicality.
As the Budget Office prepares its cost analysis, JRL CHARTS LGBT Politics USA will continue monitoring the fallout — and whether Dorsey’s cost-cutting logic will win over a community still fighting to protect the very rights this law once symbolized.
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