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.
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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