Sunday April 11, 2010 L.A. Gay& Lesbian Center 1625 N. Schrader Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. Sign in at 9:30 a.m.
One of the most important New Deal programs to help Americans that become disabled and unable to work or care for themselves or their families is Social Security. Unfortunately if you are LGBT you will be expected to pay into this insurance program while at the same time be unable to attain those same benefits that are awarded to heterosexual couples as a matter of course. Even if they are unmarried.
To learn more after the jump:
Yes, you have heard that right unmarried straight couples can receive benefits while LGBT couples are denied these same benefits. From the social Security website:
1717.1 How do you prove a common-law marriage?
Evidence to prove a common-law marriage in the States that recognize such marriages must include:
If the husband and wife are living, a statement from each and a statement from a blood relative of each;
If either the husband or wife is dead, a statement from the surviving widow or widower and statements from two blood relatives of the decedent; or
If both a husband and wife are dead, a statement from a blood relative of the husband and from a blood relative of the wife.
Yet couples that pay into the same system that just happen to be LGBT are told even if they have ceremonies documenting their devotion and commitment to each others welfare are denied access to these same benefits. From Rock for Equality:
- The Social Security Administration does not recognize any same-sex relationships, anywhere, including couples in states that afford same-sex couples the right to marry or the right to register as domestic partners.
What can we do about this?
There will be a rally and march to challenge this disparity. From the Rock for Equality website:
A: The federal government requires Americans in same-sex relationships to pay into Social Security like everybody else. These people are then denied key benefits that make up a crucial part of the safety net Americans rely on for their economic well-being in their latter years, or upon becoming disabled. In tough economic times, like those gripping the country today, these benefits are all the more critical.
It’s nothing short of outrageous that, having paid into the system fairly and equally – often throughout decades of hard work – lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are denied the same benefits that all others receive.
- Spousal Retirement Benefits* – allow a low-income spouse to be eligible for either their own benefit, or an amount equal to one-half of their higher earning spouse’s benefit. It is common for one partner to earn more and pay more into Social Security than the other. Once both partners have retired, one, for example, may qualify for benefits of $500 a month and the other for $2,000 a month. The one who has qualified for $500 is automatically qualified for $1,000 instead which is equal to half of the larger earners benefit. When retirement comes, the lower earner gets a boost, so that the couple can retire with some security. This benefit is not available to same-sex couples.
- Spousal /Dependents Disability Benefit under SSDI * - provides for a spouse and dependents to qualify for benefits on a disabled worker’s earnings record in the same way as with retired workers (see above). This benefit is not available to same-sex couples. Even the children of same-sex couples may be at risk. (The Department of Justice has issued an opinion on this, but this area of law is still unclear.)
- Survivors Benefits* – allow a widow or widower to be eligible to claim their own Social Security benefit, or an amount equal to the benefit to which their deceased spouse was eligible. So, upon retirement, if a couple qualifies for $500 for one person and $2000 for the other, together their monthly benefit would be $2,500. Upon the death of the person getting $2,000, the survivor can receive $2000 per month, instead of $500. Although the household income will go down by $500, the survivor can adjust by economizing on living expenses for one person instead of two, and live with some security. This is true in all cases except when the survivor was in a same-sex partnership. In those instances, the survivor has to get by on only $500 per month.
- Death Benefit* - Upon the death of a spouse, Social Security provides a modest benefit of $255 for burial expenses, etc. But not if the survivor was in a same-sex partnership.
This is taxation with out representation in it's basest form. I know this from personal experience that my relationship was not considered of value when my back went out in 1997. My partner at the time could not access benefits or assist me in applying for Social Security because we could not be married.
There have been some media coverage of this disparity and how it unduly burdens LGBT seniors in the L.A. Times story by Rex W. Huppke.
Serena Worthington, director of the SAGE program in Chicago, said she routinely saw seniors at her group's twice-weekly luncheons who felt socially isolated. Some have never come out of the closet. Others were out but then moved into a nursing home and thought they had to hide their sexual identity.
"If you were coming of age when it was illegal or immoral to be gay or lesbian, you could be considered mentally ill," Worthington said. "And now you picture seniors walking into senior centers still holding that fear of rejection. Many LGBT seniors are just not accessing social services, and so they become increasingly isolated."
For same-sex couples, Worthington said, if one person needs to spend assets to qualify for Medicaid to pay for long-term care, the healthy partner can often be left without money or a place to live.
The report by SAGE an advocacy group focusing on LGBT seniors:
In addition to examining the challenges faced by LGBT elder, Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults also provides detailed and comprehensive policy analysis and recommendations for anyone wanting to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to age successfully. The report is co-authored by the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE) in partnership with the American Society on Aging, the National Senior Citizens Law Center, and the Center for American Progress, with a foreword from the AARP.
This is something that needs to be addressed as the population ages and more and more LGBT seniors come to need to access the benefits they paid into just as much as their heterosexual peers. Why do these citizens who have faced discrimination from their families, employers, and society in general have to face the additional burden of placing their spouses in financial distress as they age and or become disabled? This is a travesty considering they too paid into the Social Security system. Taxation without representation is never considered a good thing to most Americans so why do we allow this to continue?