Gay Couples Could Get Windfall
Notice this local news headline that comes from the San Francisco area, where the bulk of the population is supportive of Gay Marriage. This should read “Gay Spouses” or “Gay Families” don’t you think? You also have to ask if it’s a “windfall” if everyone else is entitled to these tax benefits and you are barred from them by religious prejudices?
These types of gay marriage slights and diminutions come naturally even to people who are pro gay marriage because anti-gay bigotry is so deeply embedded in our culture from over one and a half millenniums of Christian repression that runs all the way back to the Holy Roman Emperors in 342 AD.
Accountants and tax lawyers are encouraging married same-sex couples to apply now for tax refunds, Social Security benefits and other financial perks of marriage they may have been denied under the federal law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing gay and lesbian unions.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments later this month to a provision of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. If the court strikes it down, some married couples and gays whose spouses have died may be eligible for retroactive payments.