SALT LAKE CITY—Salt Lake’s new mayor is fulfilling a campaign promise and proposing a new ordinance.

Mayor Ralph Becker—he’d been on the job all of three days—proposed a domestic partners registry to the Salt Lake City Council Jan. 11.

The registry would allow two adults living together and dependent on one another, meaning they share a loan, a mortgage or an insurance policy, to register on a citywide registry. They would then qualify for increased employee benefits typically given only to married couples.

Though no group—including the powerful Church of Latter-Day Saints—has openly opposed the proposal yet, the mayor says he is expecting a fight but expects to win.

“This is an opportunity for us to provide all of Salt Lake City’s residents the same level of equality, dignity and respect,” the mayor said.