Does AAA Discriminate Against Gay Couples?
Each year we get a slew of calls from people complaining that AAA refused to provide a family or associate membership to the callers partner. Often a few extra phone calls gets the matter resolved with the partner's name added but in recent years, it appears AAA (at least in Florida) has come down on the side of ignoring gay couples, even those who have been legally married elsewhere or have civil union or domestic partnership status.
FYI-AAA isn't a single entity. It is owned by a group of local / regional AAA clubs: AAA Northwest Ohio, AAA Mid-Atlantic, AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah, the Automobile Club of Southern California, AAA Oregon/Idaho, or Auto Club South and others. The boundaries of those clubs aren't always easily divined. For example AAA South is made up of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Puerto Rico and from what I can tell they have taken an increasingly hard line in rejecting the recognition of gay and lesbian couples.
As it turns out, the National HQ and AAA South are headquartered in Florida and we'd like to challenge the disrespect AAA is showing our families. I'm wondering if anyone else has done outreach to AAA or is interested in helping. Does your AAA have inclusive policies? For example it looks like the California AAAs have gay travel packets and outreach efforts.
So far the response of AAA South has been avoidance. We'd like to take this to the next level. Please let us know if you are interested in helping.
Best,
Nadine Smith
Executive Director
