Queer doctors may soon get to visit their spouses in the hospital, and vice versa, with less paperwork involved: today, the Rochester City Council is scheduled to vote on whether or not to create a domestic partner registry for the city. It’s largely symbolic, but it does contain a provision guaranteeing one partner’s visitation rights if the other is hospitalized, which is great if you’re from the cities of Minneapolis, St Paul, Duluth, Edina, or other cities or states where same-gender marriage or domestic partnerships are recognized. If you’re from Moorhead, though, you may be SOL (although the proposed ordinance does not explicitly ban non-residents from registering).

Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner threw in his two cents in an interview with a reporter from the Rochester Post-Bulletin yesterday, urging the Rochester City Council to pass the measure.

“I hope that the Rochester City Council is able to go ahead and pass the domestic benefits. I think for Minnesota to be a state that is open to the best talent, that attracts the best talent, we need to address these kinds of equality issues and be a leader in addressing them,” he said.

Horner said he does support legalizing gay marriage in Minnesota. But he added, “I understand that most Minnesotans aren’t ready to take that on. I think what they are ready to take on are the same kinds of steps in the public sector that the private sector already has taken and has been there is some cases for many years.”