San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who is openly gay, is facing criticism from LGBT advocates after saying it might be time to repeal a landmark law that requires companies the city works with to provide same-sex partners with the same benefits as their married heterosexual colleagues.
Dorsey questioned whether the San Francisco Equal Benefits Ordinance was necessary since gay marriage is legal, and argued the ordinance blocked competitive bids for city work.
He told the Bay Area Reporter that repealing the law, which went into effect in 1997, would save San Francisco millions and broaden the selection of companies competing for a contract.
Dorsey made similar arguments in 2023 when the board ended the city’s ban on contracting with companies based in states with anti-LGBT laws or those that had restrictions on abortion access.
“From the data I’ve seen, only about 45% of large firms in the U.S. offer domestic partner benefits today, and the numbers are declining in the post-Obergefell era,” he said, referring to the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing gay marriage. “That means 55% of large firms, and who knows how many small firms, are banned from even bidding on goods or services contracts with San Francisco.
“When competitive bidding is made less competitive, the goods and services taxpayers contract for are more expensive,” he added. “I would be the first to argue that the added expense was entirely defensible when the underlying principle of the Equal Benefits Ordinance was equity for same-sex couples who were legally denied access to marriage. It is not defensible today.”
In a July 29 letter to Fred Brousseau, director of policy analysis in the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office, Dorsey asked for the estimate of the percentage of United States companies that continue to offer their employees domestic partner benefits equal to those they provide to married couples since same-sex marriage rights were secured nationwide. He also asked for the direct costs to taxpayers for enforcement and compliance.
“It seems plausible that expanding our bidding eligibility from fewer than 45% of businesses to 100% would achieve some measure of savings for the more robust competition,” he wrote. “Given published research showing San Francisco’s annual expenditure for goods and service contracts totaling $5.8 billion, even a marginal savings of just 5% would result in $290 million, more than the entire budget of our Recreation and Parks Department.”
Despite the potential savings, Dorsey faced criticism from former city supervisors like Tom Ammiano, who called the push a “misplaced priority,” and Jeff Sheehy.
Ammiano, who is gay and sponsored the 1996 Equal Benefits Ordinance, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the situation has caused a backlash among gay leaders in San Francisco who have urged Dorsey to rethink his stance. Ammiano told the Bay Area Reporter that repealing the EBO was “very disturbing to hear, especially from a gay man.”
“Harvey Milk always said you’ve got to always look over your shoulder,” he said. “It’s very disturbing that someone from our community thinks an ordinance like this isn’t worth it.”
Sheehy, who is also gay, questioned why Dorsey was “closing a door we may need?”
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Dorsey posted on X that he’d “recommend a legislative update to suspend enforcement indefinitely” but with “a hair-trigger provision that the EBO would immediately take effect again if the same-sex marriage rights Obergefell secured in were ever overturned.”
Either way, we need not decide immediately.
Let’s allow the BLA to do its work.
(12/12)
— Matt Dorsey (@mattdorsey) July 29, 2025
He then added, “Either way, we need not decide immediately. Let’s allow the BLA to do its work. Let’s see what the numbers show. Let’s be thoughtful. And let’s legislate accordingly.”
