Catharine Martin | Domestic Partner Benefits
We chat with former Levi Strauss employee Catharine Martin, who was among the first employees to take advantage of the company’s domestic partner benefits back in the early 1990s.
Transcript
I moved to San Francisco from
Philadelphia and Philadelphia was
closeted didn’t come out at all
so when I came to the city I felt there
was an opportunity for me to be more
myself I didn’t know much about the gay
community here however when I joined
Levi soar was an environment here that
was very welcoming and I really pretty
much came out initially and in 1990 I
got married to my partner of 34 years
and so when they offered the domestic
partners I said oh my gosh this is my
life partner why don’t I just sign her
up and it was effortless I mean it I
mean I don’t know what it would have
been anywhere else but for me it was
really signing a piece of paper I just
was ecstatic if I heard of it you know
here things just flowed naturally and it
wasn’t like somebody was pushing it down
your throat it was more like well that’s
the right thing to do let’s go do that
work for Levi so I got the benefits of
them being thoughtful about human beings
and not separating us out as something
different and including us in as a
community only because of companies like
Levi’s it’s gotten to where we are today
and therefore we get to enjoy the
freedom of being who we are without like
going oh well I don’t have I have a
pension but I can’t give it to my
partner or I have a life insurance but I
can’t give it to my partner so these are
these are things that Levi’s don’t let
the way for I think
you
