Petrelis Files

Capital Times: Rep. Baldwin is Not Married to Her Partner

The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin, which defines itself as the state's Progressive Newspaper, today picked up on my posting yesterday about lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin's travel expense disclosure form, listing her partner as her spouse.

From writer Doug Moe's column:

> VARIOUS GAY and lesbian blogs and Web sites were buzzing Wednesday about whether U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin had married her domestic partner, attorney Lauren Azar.

> She didn't.

> "They are not legally married," Jerilyn Goodman, Baldwin's press secretary, said.

> The buzz was caused by a blog posting Tuesday by San Francisco gay rights advocate Michael Petrelis. Petrelis noted that "on at least one official travel disclosure form" filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives, Baldwin had listed Azar as her "spouse."

> In January, Baldwin went on a trip to Israel paid for by the American Israeli Education Foundation, and Azar accompanied her. [...]

> According to Goodman, the House's travel disclosure form was changed in the middle of 2005. In the past - at least during Baldwin's first 6 years in Congress - the form had provided only two choices: spouse or child. Baldwin, when traveling with Azar, would check spouse.

> The form was changed to include "other," but Baldwin, Goodman said, "saw no reason to change" the way she marked the travel form. [...]

Thanks, Doug Moe, for reporting on Baldwin's marital status, and kudos to Baldwin for filing her disclosure form with her partner listed as a spouse.