Gotta hand it to the IRS. I don’t mean literally hand over your owed taxes — although unless you’re a valiant anti-war tax-resister doing civil disobedience, you probably should pay up, especially now that Obama is closing loopholes on tax-avoiding fat cats (no offense to felines of size). I’m saying hand some figurative credit to the Internal Revenue Service for growing a pair (that means ovaries, right?) and taking a stand for justice.
The IRS teamed up with the U.S. Treasury Department and jointly announced, much to the frothy chagrin of anti-equality homophobes, that all married couples, regardless of sexual orientation, will be treated equally under federal tax law. Can I get a “woo-hoo!”?
After decades of protesting, parading, lobbying, canvassing and coming out, the times really are a’changin’. It suddenly seems so sudden. Like the old slapstick routine where someone pounds and pushes against the closed door and then the person on the other side flings it open. Whee!
We’re in. For federal tax purposes, at least. No matter where your marriage was performed, if you’re legally married anywhere, you’re legally married everywhere. Even if you happen to live in one of the 37 same-sex marriage-ban states, like Oregon.
Side note: We’re on the verge of overturning the Constitutional ban here in the Beaver State. Volunteers are busily gathering signatures to put a marriage equality measure on our November 2014 ballot. If you haven’t yet, please sign the Oregon United for Marriage petition at oregonsaysido.org and do your part to bend the long arc of history toward justice.
Back to our nation’s government. In the wake of the Supreme Court striking down DOMA, federal agencies are hustling to unveil their compliance plans. The Department of Health and Services is all over it. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, flexing some mighty estrogen, proclaimed she’d “ensure that gay and lesbian married couples are treated equally under the law.” That means if Wifey and I ever need to be in a skilled nursing facility, Medicare Advantage has to let us be in the same facility. Rattle your walkers, folks, this is big!
All these new equality guarantees apply to couples in legally recognized same-sex marriages based on where they were married. In oddly festive legalese, this is known as the “State of Celebration.” (Also happens to describe our state of mind.)
Here’s the deal. For federal taxes and a slew of other federally regulated programs like the military and immigration, all married same-sex couples are now considered legally married based on their State of Celebration. That’s all of us who were married, like Wifey and I were, in Canada, or any of the 16 other countries (and parts of Mexico) with marriage equality, or in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington (state and D.C.).
Alas, queer couples who want to marry but don’t live in or have the time and money to travel to one of those places are SOL. At this moment, Social Security still denies benefits based on State of Residence. And not all of us lesbian/gay /bi/trans/ queer people are even in couples. Way too many doors remain closed. Oh, we’ll definitely keep pounding. But now we expect those closed doors to keep flying open.
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519