Domestic Partnerships

Gay Couples Get Equal Tax Treatment

Submitted by ONE Community on June 8, 2010 - 11:01am
By LAURA MECKLER The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that same-sex couples must be treated the same as heterosexual couples under a feature of California tax law. Advocates for the change say it is the first time the agency has acknowledged gay couples as a unit for tax purposes. The change reverses a 2006 IRS ruling and opens a tax benefit to many same-sex couples that wasn't available before. It may affect couples in Nevada and Washington state, as well. Specifically, the agency said nearly 58,000 couples who are registered as domestic partners in California must combine their income and each report half of it on their separate tax returns.
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Census sheds light on same-sex marriages

Submitted by ONE Community on September 22, 2009 - 1:50pm
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Merkley introduces trans-inclusive ENDA in Senate

Submitted by ONE Community on August 9, 2009 - 6:19pm
by Chris Johnson - Washington Blade - August 7, 2009 An Oregon lawmaker made history Wednesday by introducing a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S. Senate, marking the first time that a trans-inclusive bill has been considered in that chamber of Congress. Sen. Jeff Merkley, a first-term Democratic senator, told the Blade he’s sponsoring the legislation because “it stems from core conviction” about his belief in fairness and equality. “For me, one of the huge issues that I’ve cared a lot about is equality under the law and fairness to all Americans, and this was just a core part of the way I view the world,” he said.
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Gay US diplomats to receive equal benefits

Submitted by ONE Community on May 25, 2009 - 8:45pm
By MATTHEW LEE – May 23, 2009 WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will soon announce that gay American diplomats will be given benefits similar to those that their heterosexual counterparts enjoy, U.S. officials said Saturday. In a notice to be sent soon to State Department employees, Clinton says regulations that denied same-sex couples and their families the same rights and privileges that straight diplomats enjoyed are "unfair and must end," as they harm U.S. diplomacy. Read on.
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Obama on Spot Over Health Benefits for Gay Couples

Submitted by ONE Community on March 15, 2009 - 12:43pm
According to a New York Times article published on March 12, by Robert Pear, "President Obama is being forced to confront one of the most sensitive social and political issues of the day: whether the government must provide health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees." Read article.
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