A gay demonstrator protests paying higher taxes and getting less benefits than straight counterparts at an April 15 rally in Fredericksburg, Va.
(Photo by Adrian Brune)
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ADRIAN BRUNE
Friday, April 23, 2004
Chris Elkins does not anger easily.
In fact, it took 15 years for the federal government to raise the ire of the
gay retired postal worker. But certainly enough, Congress’ penning of
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in 1992 prompted Elkins to start writing
letters to anyone who would read and print them. Each time another gay issue
arose in public debate, Elkins would mail off another letter.
Those letter campaigns satisfied Elkins’ advocacy inklings until President
Bush proclaimed his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment. Now more visible
than ever, Elkins, 60, traded his pen for a Sharpie and held his poster board
sentiments before him as he stood in front of the Fredericksburg Post Office
with a dozen others on April 15 to protest what he called, “taxation
with discrimination.”
In joining approximately 40 other tax day demonstrations across the country — organized
by Robin Tyler and John Aravosis of DontAmend.com — the newly voluble
gay contingent in this sleepy city an hour north of Richmond continued on its
recent path of street activism, initiated by Kim Bickert, a junior from nearby
Mary Washington University.
“The marriage amendment made a lot of people mad,” Elkins said. “We’re
tired of quietly fighting the government for our right to exist. We’re
taxpayers and we believe as taxpayers we should have the same benefits as everyone
else.”
Organized in a last minute effort, dontamend.com used e-mails and Web site
postings to muster protests consisting of about two dozen people each at post
offices nationwide, from San Francisco to Boston. However, demonstrators remained
noticeably absent from the post office in protest-friendly downtown Washington,
D.C., as the Fredericksburg action marked one of only two in the region — the
other occurring at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.
Instead, lobbyists in the District put a good deal of their efforts compiling
statistics on the inequity of gay families when compared to their straight
counterparts. Two days before the dontamend.com marches, the Human Rights Campaign,
in conjunction with the Urban Institute, released a report stating that same-sex
couples often paid more in taxes and received less in federal benefits than
other taxpayers.
The study pointed to federal initiatives such as Flexible Spending Accounts,
which allow employees to put aside pre-tax income for health or dependant care
expenses. Married couples can cover their spouses under these plans, according
to HRC attorney Lara Schwartz, but a same-sex partner can’t use that
money for his or her health care needs.
Other federal programs supported by tax dollars also specifically exclude
same-sex partners. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, workers can take
up to 12 weeks to care for a spouse, child or parent, but not a same-sex partner.
When heterosexual employees leave their jobs, they have the option of keeping
their families covered by their health insurance for 18 months, as directed
by COBRA laws. Those laws do not require employers to offer the same coverage
to domestic partners, although some do voluntarily.
And though it does not require companies to provide the same health benefits,
when employers do so, the federal government benefits, according to HRC President
Cheryl Jacques.
“Since my partner, Jenn, stays at home to care for our twin toddler
boys, her health insurance is covered through the Human Rights Campaign as
a domestic partner. But it’s a benefit I’m taxed on, while my straight
married friends aren’t,” Jacques said.
“Simply put, we’re working hard and paying more taxes for less
protection.”
The tax day backdrop provided many gay Americans with a clear picture of the
Bush administration’s injustice toward them, since those cuts benefit
mostly married couples, and since Bush wants to strictly limit marriage to
heterosexual couples, Elkins said.
“When you get older, you look at all the effort and money you could
have saved with these breaks, and you start to realize what a real difference
they make.”
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