Equal Taxes, Equal Rights

Some of you weren’t too fond of the LGBT movement attempting to co-opt the tea baggers’ tax protests, but if you ARE interested, today the HRC, Join The Impact, and Marriage Equality USA are organizing at least 60 protests at U.S. Post Offices around the country to demand fair taxation for LGBT couples.

It doesn’t matter how long a same-sex couple has been together, come Tax Day they are considered single by the federal government. As single people, they must pretend their finances and their futures are not intertwined and forgo access to the many economic safety nets their tax dollars help fund, such as Social Security survivor benefits, estate tax deferral when inheriting property, and the ability to file taxes jointly. Every year, LGBT people are forced to pay taxes on their partner’s health care benefits as if it were additional income. Opposite sex couples are exempt from this unfair taxation. Even in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where same-sex marriages are recognized by the state, they are not recognized by the federal government, and all of the above injustices apply.

Go here to find the protest nearest you. NYC’s protest will be at the James Farley Post Office at 421 Eight Avenue at 5PM. That building is Gotham’s landmark post office next to Penn Station and home of the famous inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.