The Rochester City Council approved the creation of a domestic partner registry in the city on Wednesday night by a vote of 6 to 1, placing the city next to Duluth, Edina, St. Paul, and Minneapolis who have passed such registries in recent months.

The vote prompted praise from the editorial board of the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

It’s never too soon to do the right thing.

That’s the rationale that compelled the Rochester City Council to publicly and legally affirm the basic right of all Olmsted County residents to visit a loved one in a time of medical crisis — even if that loved one is a same-sex partner. Compassion won out over fear, and Rochester proved that it’s ready and willing to live up to its claim of being an “inclusive community.”

The city also joins its namesake in New York which passed a domestic partner registry in 1998.