Let's hear it for those "activist judges" in Alaska who have ruled that the state must offer the same benefits to the partners of gay state employees that it does to the spouses of hetero state employees...

From Alaska court orders equality for gay couples (Advocate.com):

In a unanimous decision, the Alaska supreme court ruled on Friday that it is unconstitutional for the state to continue to deny equal benefits to the domestic partners of lesbian and gay state employees and retirees. The court wrote that the state's policy of denying lesbian and gay couples equal employee benefits violates the state constitution's equal protection guarantees...

..."We are so pleased that the Alaska supreme court has recognized that same-sex couples form families and make lasting commitments just like different-sex couples and that it's unfair to deny lesbian and gay state employees the compensation their straight colleagues receive," said Michael W. Macleod-Ball, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, in the press release...

...The state had argued that denying gay employees domestic-partner benefits furthered the state's interest in promoting marriage. But on Friday the court firmly rejected that argument, stating that "denying benefits to the same-sex domestic partners who are absolutely ineligible to become spouses has no demonstrated relationship to the interest of promoting marriage."...

No duh.  It was never about promoting marriage in the first place.

I absolutely adore the logical knot the gay marriage ban has created there.  If you deny them marriage, then you can't require they be married to get the benefits.