lesbian couples

Gay And Lesbian Couples Pay Thousands More In Taxes, Study Says

Submitted by ONE Community on March 29, 2013 - 9:57am
Gay And Lesbian Couples Pay Thousands More In Taxes, Study Says

Gay and lesbian couples are paying as much as $6,000 more at tax time than their heterosexual counterparts because the government disallows them from filing together on federal tax returns, a joint study between CNN Money and H&R Block has found. Read more »

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African American leaders back IL marriage equality

Submitted by ONE Community on January 7, 2013 - 8:35am

As a crucial vote in Springfield nears, twelve prominent African American leaders came together to announce their support for the passage of marriage equality legislation in Illinois.
The leaders affirmed their support in an open letter urging lawmakers to give Illinois gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry, declaring the bill's passage would lead the state and country in the right direction. Notable supporters who signed the letter include Chicago Urban League CEO Andrea Zopp, former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, and Rev. Dr. Richard Tolliver. Read more »

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US Supreme Court to Hear Americans for Equal Rights Challenge to Prop 8 on November 30th

Submitted by ONE Community on November 13, 2012 - 4:44pm

From Americans for Equal Rights:

We just received word from the U.S. Supreme Court that it will discuss whether to hear AFER’s federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 at its private Conference on Friday, November 30. 

The Court will also consider on that date whether it will hear one or more challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Both the Prop. 8 case and the DOMA cases had previously been distributed for discussion at the Justices’ November 20 Conference.

Be the first to find out what the Supreme Court decides. Sign up for breaking news updates from AFER. Read more »

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Gay marriage’s long march to equality

Submitted by ONE Community on November 8, 2012 - 10:04am

ON TUESDAY, Americans in Maryland, Maine and Washington state voted by almost identical four-point margins to extend marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples; in a fourth state, Minnesota, voters rejected a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, again by about the same margin. With those ballot victories for marriage equality, the first after a 14-year string of defeats in 32 states, it is now reasonable to imagine a day in the not-very-distant future when marriage for gay and lesbian couples across this country will be unexceptional, unencumbered and mostly unremarked upon. Read more »

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Newly married gay couples face tax landmines

Submitted by ONE Community on August 28, 2012 - 6:50am

(Reuters) - While most tax news in this election cycle is focusing on expiring tax cuts, what may be most revolutionary about 2012 is how many newly married same-sex couples are going to face a tax quagmire.

There are more than 130,000 married gay and lesbian couples in the United States, according to U. S. Census Bureau data. And with more states, notably New York, legalizing same-sex marriage, that number is rising.

Taxes for same-sex couples are far more complex than those for heterosexual couples because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits same-sex marriages from being recognized at the federal level, while state-level tax rules vary greatly.

FILING STATUS MATTERS Read more »

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American Catholics Go Against Church, Support Gay Marriage

Submitted by ONE Community on February 15, 2012 - 8:10pm
American Catholics Go Against Church, Support Gay Marriage

From OpposingViews.com

Recent statements and polling data have again demonstrated that the Roman Catholic hierarchy is completely out of touch with the beliefs and values of the people they are supposed to represent. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted between February 8 and 13, 2012 shows that over two-thirds of Catholics believe that gay and lesbian couples deserve some sort of relationship recognition. The poll also found that forty-four percent of Catholics believe that gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry, and that quarter of Catholics support civil unions. Read more »

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Washington Legislature has the votes to legalize gay marriage as Sen. Haugen declares support

Submitted by ONE Community on January 23, 2012 - 7:09pm

By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, January 23, 5:25 PM

OLYMPIA, Wash. — As lawmakers held their first public hearing on legalizing same-sex marriage, a previously undecided Democratic senator on Monday announced her support for the measure, all but ensuring that Washington will become the seventh state to allow gay and lesbian couples to get married. Read more »

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Obama orders same-sex hospital visits

Submitted by ONE Community on April 16, 2010 - 12:26am

Gay, lesbian couples must be allowed visitors, medical power of attorney

President Obama mandated Thursday that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical health-care decisions for them, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans. The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters Thursday night while he was at a fundraiser in Miami. Administration officials and gay activists, who have been quietly working together on the issue, said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding,
Read more »
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