House subcommittee approves benefits for same-sex partners
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/house-subcomm…
Baldwin bill seeks to end LGBT health disparities
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin introduced the Ending Health Disparities for LGBT Americans Act (ELHDA) on Tuesday, the first comprehensive approach to improving all areas of the health care system where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans face inequality and discrimination.
“Our current health care system fails LGBT Americans on many levels,” said …
Tags: Act, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Current Health, Discrimination, Health Care System, Health Disparities, Health System, Inequality, Tammy Baldwin, Transgender AmericansAnd the Gay Tax is? $1820 per year
NPR contributor Nancy Goldstein has calculated the “gay tax” — the amount gay couples must spend to receive the same services that married heterosexual couples can count on everyday. In a column, she writes:
The cost of love isn’t an abstract concept in my household: It’s precisely $1,820 per year. That’s the “gay tax” we shell out for me to be on my wife’s health insurance plan, because her company must treat that benefit as additional taxable income.
Goldstein adds that “The media’s primary focus on the morality debate around same-sex marriage means that most of the public, gay or straight, knows little about the very real economic costs of inequality.”
The largest costs of marriage inequality also tend to be the easiest to quantify: Social Security survivor benefits denied, joint tax returns not filed, and many, many other cost savings that most married couples probably don’t even think about.
It’s this side of the gay marriage debate that has led the normally middle-of-the-road financial guru Suze Orman to wade into the debate. See And the Gay Tax is? $1820 per year WalletPop * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/and-gay-tax-i…
Maine Judiciary Committee Endorses Gay Marriage
A same-sex marriage bill is going to the Maine Senate and House with a strong committee endorsement.
Eleven of the 14 Judiciary Committee members voted Tuesday to pass the bill, while two voted against it and one proposed sending it to voters in a November referendum. Gov. John Baldacci remains undecided.
Supporters said the bill corrects an inequality that’s long existed in Maine law, while one of the opponents pointed to overwhelming constituent opposition to the bill.
Republican Sen. David Hastings of Fryeburg said he prefers sending a straightforward question to voters.
See Maine Judiciary Committee Endorses Gay Marriage
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/maine-judicia…
