LGBT News Waiting on Proposition 8 and DOMA decisions: In Plain English

Dan82 · Jun 23, 2013

http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/06/waiting-on-proposition-8-and-doma-decisions-in-plain-english/

And it has all come down to this. Over four years ago, superlawyers Ted Olson and David Boies – who opposed each other in the Bush v. Gore presidential election case – came together to challenge California’s ban on same-sex marriage on behalf of two California couples. In the next few days, the Supreme Court is finally expected to rule on whether that ban (known as Proposition 8) and the federal Defense of Marriage Act – which limits marriage to a union between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law – are constitutional. But then again, it might not . . . . So let’s talk about the same-sex marriage cases and what the Court could do with them in Plain English.

Let’s start with United States v. Windsor, the challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which may wind up as the less complicated of the two. (More background on the case can be found in my earlier posts here, here, and here.) And let’s be clear on what this case is not about: it is not about whether there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Instead, it is about whether Congress can treat married same-sex couples differently from married opposite-sex couples in federal laws and programs like Social Security benefits, immigration, and income taxes.

Congress passed DOMA in 1996, and then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law. The Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations all defended DOMA against court challenges. But in 2012, President Obama changed his mind and concluded that DOMA violated the rights of same-sex couples, so House Republicans stepped in to defend the law...

http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/06/waiting-on-proposition-8-and-doma-decisions-in-plain-english/
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HuskyPup · Jun 23, 2013

Wow, there's so many implications here.

About 3 years ago, the State of Maryland gave same sex domestic partners the ability to add them to their partner's health-care plans, as if they were a spouse. You had to supply a joint lease, a life insurance policy, or any two of a list of documents, and then pay the same ammount per month as a married couple: about $60/month more, depending on the policy. The catch? If you had a same sex partner, you get taxed on the total value of the policy as if it were additional income. So I'm taxed as if I made an additional $3,500/year, whereas a married couple would not.

Now the state has passed same sex marriage, and to keep my partner on my policy, we have to be married by Dec 31. So we plan to get married this fall; it's been 20+ years, and though we'd like more time to plan, I'm still happy the state will recognize this, and not tax us on the state level. But that leaves the federal level. So for me, this has a direct impact: If DOMA is unconstitutional on the federal level, and we get married, I hope this means we don't get taxed on that level.

I'm crossing my fingers on both cases, but I'm understandably nervous. I work as a library assistant, and don't make a great deal...my partner waits tables. So this could make a big difference, at a time the economy has seen us struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages.

It's odd, I never thought I'd be seeing this, at one time, yet here we are.

LGBT News Waiting on Proposition 8 and DOMA decisions: In Plain English

Dan82
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HuskyPup
Regular Member

LGBT News Waiting on Proposition 8 and DOMA decisions: In Plain English

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Dan82 Full Member

HuskyPup Regular Member

Dan82
Full Member

HuskyPup
Regular Member