No Gender in Couple

$17.9 million and 72 days.  That is how much money Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ made off of her, or their, “fairy tale wedding” and how long their marriage lasted.  If you average that out, they made roughly $250,000 a day.    Making $250,000 a day?  Seems more like a business contract than a marriage contract.   One of the advantages of getting married (besides the obvious ones of being in love and wanting to spend the rest of your life with each other) is the benefits and tax cuts couples receive from the federal government.   But this does not include same-sex couples.

But what about same-sex couples?  Legally they cannot get married on a federal level and so they are not eligible for the same rights as married couples are. 

 

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a “couple” is defined as: two persons married, engaged, or otherwise romantically paired.   There is no mention of gender or the difference between the same sex or opposite sex.   But according to Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federalgovernment only respects marriages between a man and a woman. This means thateven if a same-sex couple's marriage is recognized by their home state, it isnot recognized for the purposes of accessing marriage benefits in federal law. Once married, couples are granted benefits by the federal government including tax, social security, full employment, and military benefits.

Personally, I believe that leaving same-sex couples out of the benefits goes against the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal.

While I am not arguing for or against the legalization of same-sex marriage, I am suggesting same-sex couples in a long term, committed relationship, should receive the same benefits as any other hetro-sex couple.    

By denying same-sex couples these benefits, it is costing them upwards to $200,000 extra for health insurance.  (Numbers depending on number of children, income, local taxes, etc) So while Kim Kardashian is made $250,000 a day for the 72 days she was married, it is costing same-sex couples $200,000 extra just because they are in a relationship with someone of the same sex.

Although the federal government does not provide any support, national companies are slowly reimbursing same-sex couples the extra taxes they have to pay for health benefits for their significant other.   According to 2010, The Kaiser Family Foundation says that 36 percent of large companies that offer health benefits provide coverage for same-sex domestic partners, and more than half of Fortune 500 companies provide domestic partner coverage — but few pay the extra costs ofthat coverage.   And starting January 1 of next year, Microsoft and Yahoo will be added to the list of companies that provide the tax incentives for gay employees. (For a list of companies that do provide coverage, check it out here) 

The Human Rights Campaign helps lobby for tax benefits for same-sex couples for employers.   This group is specifically called Business Coalition for Benefits Tax Equity,Members. Currently there are 75 national companies supporting this campaign including Google, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nike and Verizon.

 I guess I never fully understood why same-sex couples are denied rights.  While I understand why some people are opposed to having them be considered “married”, with a separation of church and state in this country, there should be no reason why a domestic partnership should be denied. 

With the institution of marriage being questioned, (I do believe Kim Kardashian’s infamous wedding has no bearing on the current situation of marriage and divorces) I think we need to take an evaluation on whom we provide benefits to.  If two people are in a committed, romantic, relationship, who gives us them the right to be denied health benefits and tax benefits just dependent on gender?  This isn’t the 1960s anymore.