Opponents of same-sex marriage say those who challenge the Defense of Marriage Act are trying to impose gay marriage on the rest of the country.
Posted on 03/03/2009 3:37:59 AM PST by Zakeet
Married same-sex couples are suing the federal government, claiming the act discriminates against gay couples and is unconstitutional because it denies them access to federal benefits.
Mary Ritchie, a Massachusetts State Police trooper, has been married for almost five years and has two children. But when she files her federal income tax return, she's not allowed to check the "married filing jointly" box.
That's because Ritchie and her spouse, Kathleen Bush, are a gay couple, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act makes them ineligible to file joint tax returns.
Now Ritchie, Bush and more than a dozen others are suing the federal government, claiming the act discriminates against gay couples and is unconstitutional because it denies them access to federal benefits that other married couples receive, such as pensions and health insurance.
Plaintiffs also include Dean Hara, the widower of former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives.
In Ritchie's case, she and her spouse say they have paid nearly $15,000 more in taxes than they would have if they had been able to file joint returns.
"It saddens us because we love our country," Ritchie said. "We are taxpayers. We live just like anyone else in our community. We do everything just like every other family, like every other married couple, and we are treated like less than that."
The lawsuit was being filed Tuesday in federal court in Boston by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the anti-discrimination group that brought a successful legal challenge leading to Massachusetts becoming the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage in 2004.
Only Massachusetts and Connecticut allow gay marriage. Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey and New Hampshire allow civil unions.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Opponents of same-sex marriage say those who challenge the Defense of Marriage Act are trying to impose gay marriage on the rest of the country.
Obama will give it to them.
Prison Time?
I’m trying to figure out how they come up with the $15,000 more in taxes because they file separately?? Seems almost impossible unless they are playing a game.
Federal benefits? Federal pensions? She works for the state. What federal pension, health insurance? How come I don't have access to such things?
Does anyone actually read the Constitution anymore?
” . . . the act discriminates against gay couples and is unconstitutional because it denies them access to federal benefits that other married couples receive, such as pensions and health insurance.”
Social Security Survivors benefits for the kids for one.
We live just like anyone else in our community.
Bullsh!t
What????
Butbutbut they said that couldn’t happen!!!
My flabbers are completely ghasted.
[This gns moment is brought to you by Trojan...for the scr@in of a lifetime, its Trojan.]
[Puke]
Article 29 of the Royal Navy's Articles of War (1866) orders death as punishment for the unnatural and detestable sin of buggery or sodomy with man or beast. It is still sin.
Sorry Mary, but you aren’t really married. You’ve deluded yourself, but just because you wish this doesn’t make it true.
And here I thought it was about marrying the person you love.
Look at the placards appearing in the uncropped photo - it reads ‘RESPECT FOR OUR RELATIONSHIPS’
This is where the gay marriage seekers and supporters give the game away...they STILL think judicial recognition is equivalent to societal acceptance! This is why all the arguments about hospital visitation etc. are red herrings.
The marriage concession is to provide suport and encouragement for potentially procreative unions of male and female. This union, and only this union, allows children to be raised in the proven best environment for the rearing of children and the guidance of families.
It’s quite obvious that these 2 women don’t procreate.
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