Ellen Goodman: Gay couples in 4 states have strange dual citizenship D

They are not the only married couple in America who talk about taxes and ulcers in the same sentence. Nor are they the only couple who believe they are paying more than they should. On that ground they are part of a noisy majority.

But they are a couple for whom tax season also entails an identity crisis. Melba Abreu and Beatrice Hernandez file state taxes as what they are — a legally married Massachusetts couple. But under federal law, they have to file federal taxes as what they aren’t — two single women.

In the last four years, the government’s refusal to consider them a married couple has cost the writer and the CFO of a nonprofit about $5,000 a year. As Beatrice puts it, “We don’t know anyone for whom $20,000 and counting isn’t significant.”

This is one reason they joined seven other married couples and three surviving spouses last month in bringing a legal complaint against DOMA, the law that deliberately denies federal benefits to same-sex marriages. The other plaintiffs include a postal worker who can’t get health care coverage for her spouse, a widower ineligible for higher Social Security benefits, and a couple who can’t get a passport under their married name.

We have just doubled the number of states in which same-sex couples can be legally married. First, Iowa joined Massachusetts and Connecticut. Then Vermont followed with the first legislative approval. And a bill was just introduced in New York, where people cringe to find themselves lagging behind Iowa.

This is all part of a careful state-by-state strategy. But as a side effect, it’s producing more Americans with a strange dual citizenship: Married in the eyes of Iowa, single in the eyes of Washington. Eligible for a pension, health care, family leave in the eyes of the state; ineligible in the eyes of the feds.

Ellen Goodman: Gay couples in 4 states have strange dual citizenship Dayton Daily News

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/ellen-goodman…

Tax laws discriminate against gay couples

BOSTON — They are not the only married couple in America who talk about taxes and ulcers in the same sentence. Nor are they the only couple who believe they are paying more than they should. On that ground they are part of a noisy majority. But they are a couple for whom tax season also entails an identity crisis. You see, Melba Abreu and Beatrice Hernandez file state taxes as what they are — a legally married Massachusetts couple. But under federal law, they have to file federal taxes as what they aren’t — two single women.

This identity crisis is not just some psychological blip on the cheerful landscape of their family life. In the last four years, the government’s refusal to consider them a married couple has cost the writer and the CFO of a nonprofit about $5,000 a year. As Beatrice puts it, “We don’t know anyone for whom $20,000 and counting isn’t significant.”

The suit is not just timely because we all share a certain post-tax traumatic stress syndrome. But we have just doubled the number of states in which same-sex couples can be legally married. First, Iowa joined Massachusetts and Connecticut. Then Vermont followed with the first legislative approval. And a bill was just introduced in New York, where people cringe to find themselves lagging behind Iowa.

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/tax-laws-disc…

A nation’s first gay war widower

Bereaved military spouse takes on the ‘little man,’ PM John Howard, and wins his pension.

Justice at last for gay war widower

Edward Young has finally proved he is entitled to a war pension, writes Jonathan Dart.

Every so often, Edward Young sits on the couch in his apartment and closes his eyes. “And then I just pretend I’m not here any more,” he says.

It has been 10 years since his partner, Larry Cains, died. They met in London in 1960 – he, a model, was introduced to Mr Cains, a photographer who had served with the Australian Army in Borneo during World War II.

“He was desperately handsome,” Mr Young said. “We spent two weeks together and I told him I wanted to spend my life with him.”

Now, after a decade of fighting to have the law recognise his and Mr Cains’s love as equal, the Sydneysider will soon become the country’s first recognised gay war widower.

Laws passed in November mean that partners in gay relationships with serving and retired soldiers will, for the first time, be allowed to claim pensions – opening the door for the so-called “forgotten people” of our military heritage and allowing for more people to make claims that must be paid out.

The decision will end a long-winded battle for Mr Young that began in a small inner-city law office, when he applied for a pension only to find the Veterans’ Entitlements Act limited the definition of “couple”. Under the old law, his 38 years with Mr Cains were invalid because he could not prove he was “living with a member of the opposite sex”.

Having lived through a time when discrimination against gay men was rife, Mr Young said the wording still jolted him. “I didn’t really need the pension,” he said. “I didn’t even really want it. What I wanted was to take on the little man, [the former prime minister John] Howard, and fight.”

See Justice at last for gay war widower
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia