Sunday, January 25, 2009

A New Ally in the Fight for Equality

Through Facebook, I've come across a new organization fighting for marriage equality, EqualityMatters.org. Read the list of rights. Some are important, some are minor. Then read some of the stories of how real couples are affected when the option to marry is not available to them. Here are a few excerpts:

"Unlike straight couples that can pass their estates to their spouse tax-free, LGBT couples must pay full taxes as if we were leaving our estates to a total stranger."

"When she passed away I had no rights to anything; I was not even allowed at her funeral. Her family took her body back to Ohio from Maine where we lived together most of our relationship—even though her wish was to be buried in Maine. Thankfully her Aunt knew the truth and was there for me and kept her cell phone on so I could hear the funeral over the phone. Hearing the service over the phone and visiting her grave site after everyone had left was the only closure I had."

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