Gay marriage is necessary
Mar 5th, 2006 by Jordan
Because lesbians and gay men cannot marry, they have no right to:
- Accidental death benefit for the surviving spouse of a government employee;
- Appointment as guardian of a minor;
- Award of child custody in divorce proceedings;
- Beneficial owner status of corporate securities;
- Bill of Rights benefits for victims and witnesses;
- Burial of service member’s dependents;
- Certificates of occupation;
- Consent to post-mortem examination;
- Continuation of rights under existing homestead leases;
- Control, division, acquisition, and disposition of community property
- Criminal injuries compensation;
- Death benefit for surviving spouse for government employee
- Disclosure of vital statistics records;
- Division of property after dissolution of marriage;
- Eligibility for housing opportunity allowance program of the Housing, Finance and Development Corporation;
- Exemption from claims of Department of Human Services for social services payments, financial assistance, or burial payments;
- Exemption from conveyance tax;
- Exemption from regulation of condominium sales to owner-occupants;
- Funeral leave for government employees;
- Homes of totally disable veterans exempt from property taxes;
- Income tax deductions, credits, rates exemption, and estimates;
- Inheritance of land patents;
- Insurance licenses, coverage, eligibility, and benefits organization of mutual benefits society;
- Legal status with partner’s children;
- Making, revoking, and objecting to anatomical gifts;
- Making partner medical decisions;
- Nonresident tuition deferential waiver;
- Notice of guardian ad litem proceedings;
- Notice of probate proceedings;
- Payment of wages to a relative of deceased employee;
- Payment of worker’s compensation benefits after death;
- Permission to make arrangements for burial or cremation;
- Proof of business partnership;
- Public assistance from the Department of Human Services;
- Qualification at a facility for the elderly;
- Real property exemption from attachment or execution;
- Right of survivorship to custodial trust;
- Right to be notified of parole or escape of inmate;
- Right to change names;
- Right to enter into pre-marital agreement;
- Right to file action for nonsupport;
- Right to inherit property;
- Right to purchase leases and cash freehold agreements concerning the management and disposition of public land;
- Right to sue for tort and death by wrongful act;
- Right to support after divorce;
- Right to support from spouse;
- Rights and proceedings for involuntary hospitalization and treatment;
- Rights by way of dour or courtesy;
- Rights to notice, protection, benefits, and inheritance under the uniform probate code;
- Sole interest in property;
- Spousal privilege and confidential marriage communications;
- Spousal immigration benefits;
- Status of children;
- Support payments in divorce action;
- Tax relief for natural disaster losses;
- Vacation allowance on termination of public employment by death;
- Veterans’ preference to spouse in public employment;
- In vitro fertilization coverage;
- Waiver of fees for certified copies and searches of vital statistics.
Frankly, only heartless assholes with their own personal interests in mind are willing to deny other people these rights.
Also, for those few people who have told me that they “don’t want to pay for [my] marriage with their taxes,” you should know that treating same-sex couples as families under law would save taxpayer money. Marriage would require same-sex partners to assume legal responsibility for their joint living expenses, thus reducing their dependence on public assistance programs, such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income disability payments and food stamps. In short, the cost to taxpayers to finance benefits to same-sex couples would be outweighed by the money that would be saved as these families rely more fully on each other instead of state or federal government assistance.
State budget studies by California and New Jersey found the following:
- The California state budget would save an estimated $8.1 to $10.6 million each year by enacting the most comprehensive domestic partner law in the nation.
- In New Jersey, which passed a new domestic partner law in 2004, the savings were projected to be even higher – more than $61 million each year.
The Congressional Budget Office says:
On balance, legalization of same-sex marriages would have only a small impact on federal tax revenues, CBO estimates. Revenues would be slightly higher: by less than $400 million a year from 2005 through 2010 and by $500 million to $700 million annually from 2011 through 2014. Those amounts represent less than 0.1 percent of total federal revenues.
Sources