National
Dept. of Education to recognize same-sex parents
Change will likely result in less aid for same-sex households
The Department of Education under Arne Duncan will begin recognizing a student’s same-sex partners on FAFSA. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The Department of Education will begin recognizing a student’s same-sex parents on applications for federal financial aid for the purposes of income information, although in most circumstances the change will likely result in these families being eligible for less assistance.
In an announcement on Monday, the department announced it will begin collecting income information from a dependent student’s legal parents regardless of their marital status or gender as long as those parents live together. The change begins with the 2014-2015 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
The precise changes are two-fold. First, the application will offer an option for students to describe their parents’ marital status as “unmarried and both parents living together.” Second, where appropriate, the new FAFSA form will use terms like “Parent 1 (father/mother/stepparent)” and “Parent 2 (father/mother/stepparent)” instead of gender-specific terms like “mother” or “father.”
In a conference call with reporters, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the change will enable students to apply for aid “in a way that incorporates their unique family dynamic.”
“These changes will allow us to calculate eligibility based on what a student’s whole family is able to contribute and ensure that limited taxpayer dollars are better targeted toward those students who have the most need,” Duncan said. “And very importantly, these changes allow us to provide an inclusive form that reflects the great diversity of American families.”
The income information provided on the FAFSA is used to calculate a student’s expected family contribution, or EFC. That number decides a student’s eligibility for federal need-based student aid, such as grants and students loans, in addition to eligibility for many state, institutional and private aid programs.
Prior to this change, FAFSA was constructed to collect information about a student’s parents only if they’re married. Consequently, it has excluded income and other information from some students’ legal parents when those parents are unmarried, the same gender and the same gender and legally married but not recognized as such under the Defense of Marriage Act.
According to the Department of Education, collecting of information from both of a dependent student’s parents is statutorily supported in the Higher Education Act. Additionally, the change won’t impact the longstanding statutorily required provision of considering information — if a student’s parents are divorced — on only the parent that the student has lived with for the greater portion of one year before completing the FAFSA.
While the change is intended to be more inclusive of LGBT families, the Department of Education maintains it’ll result in most situations with these students being eligible for less assistance.
In most instances, the amount of need-based federal student aid these students are eligible for will decrease because of the additional income and other resources used in the calculation of the student’s EFC. Still, in a small number of instances, the student would be eligible for more aid because the offset for an additional person in the household, a factor in calculating the EFC, will exceed the income of the second parent.
Duncan maintained the change would result in “fairer treatment of all families,” but acknowledged that it will likely result in same-sex households having to pay more for a student’s education.
“For the vast majority of applicants, these changes will absolutely have no impact,” Duncan said. “It’s important to note, though, that collecting information from both parents and considering the income of the whole family will likely result in less need-based federal student aid for these applicants who are affected because of the recognition of the complete financial resources of the family.”
Duncan also said the change will also affect both students with opposite-sex parents if those parents are unmarried, but living together.
“We know college is very, very expensive for many families, but to the extent that they are able, it’s important that both of the student’s legal parents help pay for the [education] of their child,” Duncan said.
Despite questions about whether these changes would result in cost savings for same-sex households, LGBT groups like the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network praised the move to include same-sex households in FAFSA.
“GLSEN has long worked to ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity are not used to discriminate against students in our nation’s K-12 schools, whether that student identifies as LGBT, has LGBT friends, or comes from an LGBT family,” said GLSEN Director of Public Policy Shawn Gaylord. “We’re thrilled by the Department of Education’s decision to allow students filling out the FAFSA to accurately describe the makeup of their family, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Praise also came from the Family Equality Council, which shared credit for making the change as part of a group that included the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals and the National Center for Transgender Equality
“Students seeking financial aid want to know that the federal government will recognize their families and not treat them differently based on their parents’ sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status,” said Emily Hecht-McGowan, the Family Equality Council’s director of public policy. “Federal forms that are inclusive of all families are important tools to help LGBT parents ensure their children receive the legal and financial protections they need and the opportunities in life that they deserve.”
According to the Department of Education, it will publish these changes this week in the Federal Register for public comment as part of the draft 2014-2015 FAFSA.
The changes come as the U.S. Supreme Court has litigation before it challenging the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Asked if the a ruling against DOMA would prompt further changes to FAFSA, Jane Glickman, a Department of Education spokesperson, replied, “We won’t know the answer to that until the Court has issued its decision and we have reviewed that decision.”
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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Comings & Goings
Pride season has begun
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Kenyan court bars homophobic protests
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