Kissimmee resident Moise Rivera, a member of Renewal Christian Church in Buenaventura Lakes, was part of a demonstration Tuesday night in front of Kissimmee City Hall against providing benefits to the life partners of city employees.

Church leaders and parishioners lined the sidewalk in front of Kissimmee City Hall Tuesday night, protesting an impending policy decision for the city that could allow its employees to purchase health insurance for their domestic partners.

“It’s not a policy where you believe whether being gay is right or wrong. It’s strictly a health care issue … and equal rights among all employees,” Grieb said. “I think that’s where the issue gets confused.”

The possible policy change should come before the City Commission in the next couple weeks. Grieb, who is gay, and her partner would receive no benefit from the change, as Grieb is a public official and not an employee.

However, Grieb solicited input from the community on the issues through her Web site, kissimmeeforum.com. That’s where Modesto Vega, an assistant pastor at Iglesia Christiana Renuevo in Kissimmee, first heard of the policy change and decided to take action.

“It’s beyond principals and moral life,” Vega said of the issue, going on to accuse Grieb of trying to push her agenda on the City Commission. “She always brings it up, little by little.”

Initially, Vega’s group was against any domestic partner benefits, as he stated in his request for a permit to hold the protest, dated Feb. 9. However, the signs protesters held Tuesday stated that the group was only against such benefits to a same-sex partner.

The dozen and a half or so protesters, who were organized by an association of 35 to 40 local pastors, said they were motivated by religious beliefs. Vega told Grieb that domestic partnership benefits could be the beginning of tolerance that could lead to Florida allowing gay marriage.

“It’s harder to fight people’s fears,” Grieb said.

Of the six who commented on domestic partnership through Grieb’s forum site, only Vega’s comments were strictly against the concept.

“The term “Domestic Partner Benefits” usually brings to mind same-sex couples, but it is a much larger issue because the composition of American families is changing,” a commenter identified as resident Randy Austin wrote. “Let no one be left out because they don´t fit someone else´s idea of what a family should be.”

Vega said his group would continue to protest the policy change until the commissioners make a final decision on the issue next month.

“We have to make sure this doesn’t happen,” he said.

Because employee benefits are an internal policy issue, a public hearing isn’t required to change them.