National
Orman: Marriage discrimination is ‘absolutely inexcusable’
Out CNBC host spoke on tax-filing deadline day
Suze Orman (Photo courtesy of Sean Lee Davies)
CNBC host Suze Orman on Monday said the Defense of Marriage Act “unnecessarily” costs gays and lesbians millions of dollars.
“The social and civil discrimination that goes on when it comes to gay marriage is absolutely inexcusable,” she said. “The financial discrimination just really really adds injury to insult.”
Orman is among those who spoke during a Respect for Marriage Coalition conference call with reporters that highlighted the inequities same-sex couples continue to face in federal and state tax systems.
Some states in which gays and lesbians can legally marry allow same-sex couples to file joint tax returns, but Orman noted there are roughly 1,100 ways they “are discriminated against” within the federal tax-paying system. These include the up to $7,000 more in taxes each year a gay person would have to pay if they placed their same-sex partner or spouse on their health insurance plan, the inability to rollover an IRA and collect Social Security survivor benefits she said “just as you do if you’re heterosexual.”
Orman, who married her partner Kathy Travis in South Africa three years ago, added she and other gays and lesbians would have to pay additional estate taxes that heterosexual couples do not because the federal government does not recognize their marriage.
“For many people that are in my situation, it is absolutely ridiculous that upon my death K.T. is going to have to pay estate tax on the majority of my estate and I’m going to have to pay estate tax on the majority of her estate,” Orman said. “If we were married and recognized on a federal level, we would not owe one penny.”
Orman spoke on the same day millions of Americans were filing their federal and state taxes before the midnight deadline.
The U.S. Supreme Court on March 27 heard oral arguments in a case filed by New York City widow Edith Windsor that challenges the constitutionality of DOMA. Windsor, who married her partner of more than 40 years, Thea Spyer, in Canada in 2007, paid $363,000 in estate taxes after her 2009 death.
Mark Maxwell and Timothy Young-Maxwell of Winston-Salem, N.C., noted during the call they are also unable to file a joint state tax return because North Carolina does not recognize their D.C. marriage.
The couple, who has lived together in the Tarheel State for more than two decades and have four adopted sons, noted their tax accounting fees cost twice the amount of money because they cannot file jointly. Maxwell also noted the costs associated with adding his spouse to his employer’s health insurance plan are also high.
“We spend more money because the money that I receive to pay for his insurance is taxed,” Young-Maxwell said. “We could use that to pay down our mortgage or pay for our children’s college education.”
The two men are the sole legal guardians for two of their four children because they cannot jointly adopt them under North Carolina law. The state gives adoptive families an annual stipend of $2,400 for each child until they turn 18 to help them offset the costs of caring for them, but the non-adoptive parent is ineligible to receive it because the Tarheel State does not recognize same-sex marriages or second-parent adoptions.
“We feel at this time that we’re unfortunately second class citizens in our country and our children are treated as second class citizens as well,” Maxwell said.
Elda Di Re and Karyn Twaronite of Ernst and Young LLP also took part in the teleconference.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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