With April 15th just around the corner, gay and lesbian people are outraged. This day brings much discrimination upon same-sex partners. There are 1138 benefits of marriage that LGBTQ people do not receive, even if they are “legally married.” Although a gay or lesbian couple can officially marry in one of the (only two!) gay-marriage-friendly states, their relationship is not recognized by the federal government as that of two spouses. Therefore, federal taxes (amongst other discriminations) bring about much anguish and frustration for same-sex couples.
It is relatively known and understood that some people discriminate against gay and lesbian people. Random acts of prejudice and hate can be explained through an individuals biases and fears. Discrimination that is less publicly known are the inequalities regarding taxes. All LGBTQ people have to pay the same taxes as straight people, but they are given the rights of second class citizens.
A huge inequality regards gay and lesbian couples being taxed on their partner’s health benefits as if it were part of their income. Dr. Wendy Chapkis, professor of Sociology and Women and Gender Studies at USM, explains: “If I’m a lesbian or gay man and I get hired at USM, thanks to the efforts of union organizers, we get domestic partner benefits. So that’s fabulous, yay! We get health benefits just like a heterosexual! Except, no – unlike my heterosexual married colleague whose wife of one day can get health benefits, my partner of 20 years gets [them] and every dollar that the university pays for her health insurance is added to my paycheck as though it were income; I get taxed on them as if I were making an additional $5744 dollars a year. I look at that and I think ‘this is outright discrimination!'”
Although any same-sex couple in the U.S. can get a state-recognized marriage in Massachusetts or Connecticut, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits the federal government from recognizing those very same marriages (not that they ever have been recognized – DOMA just made that official). So a lesbian or gay couple can get married, but there are 1138 benefits that they are not eligible to receive. Gabe Demaine, Diversity and Scholarship Liaison at USM, calls this ‘hetero-supremacy.’ Chapkis says “This is so unfair, this form of discrimination is so blatant, and it’s not just oh, we want white wedding gowns and a wedding cake like everybody else gets. We want full civil rights.” Demaine confirms “We’re really over hetero-supremacy, and these kinds of discriminatory behaviors by the federal government is an expression of [that].It’s just, you know, tax day equals hetero-supremacy day.”
But there are many days besides tax day that equal hetero-supremacy day. One could be any given day that a partner of a same-sex couple passes away. Even if both partners have been paying social security all their lives, if one partner dies the other receives not a penny of survivor benefits. This is not the case with straight couples.
Another federal discrimination is family residency rights. When a U.S. citizen marries someone of the opposite sex from another country, that foreigner is automatically eligible for U.S citizenship, visa rights, or a Green Card, along with any children the couple might have. A foreign partner of a U.S. citizen in any same sex-same couple is not eligible for these benefits, and neither are their children.
There are so many rights besides these few listed that same-sex couples do not receive. The discrimination is clear, yet hidden since most people don’t really know about it.
Jenni Hebert, an administrative assistant at USM employee shares her frustration: “What happened to justice for all? The federal discrimination of same-sex couples had led to the divide of a nation. MY Constitutional right of Freedom Against Discrimination, as established in the 14th Amendment, is being renegotiated to fit the morals and values of those opposed to anti-discriminatory laws. The ability to file returns as “married filing jointly,” or the ability to cover a spouse on a health plan without paying extra income taxes on that coverage is something only “normal” married couples can enjoy. The rest of us, the “abnormal”, are forced to suffer with higher taxes, lower tax refunds, and a derogatory look from the local IRS agent. As an American citizen I was blessed with the unalienable rights as mentioned in the Constitution of this great United States, what I did not bargain for was that the Government of this “great” nation gets to pick and choose whose rights to honor.”
Indeed, there seems to be a divide in the nation between straight and same-sex couples. Why some enjoy benefits and others can’t is an issue that tax day will inevitably raise.