Marriage equality promoted
On April 15 this year at the U.S. Post Office in Uniontown, some brave souls (of weather and character) gathered to protest the unequal treatment under the law of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Pennsylvania.
The Tax Day Action was a joint effort by grassroots group Marriage Equality for Pennsylvania (ME4PA) and national non-profit Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) to highlight the discrimination that Pennsylvania same-sex couples in particular face with regard to tax filing status and its benefits under tax laws in a state that does not have civil marriage equality.
Pennsylvania residents legally married in another state recognizing same- sex couples (as was one of the protesting couples on April 15) cannot file a tax return reflecting that for Pennsylvania tax purposes.
These couples are not entitled to the Pennsylvania state tax breaks that legally married couples (heterosexual) can receive. These include inheritance tax breaks such as that a spouse receives on inherited assets when a husband or wife dies. A surviving partner in a same-sex relationship or in a same-sex marriage recognized outside of Pennsylvania is subject to a tax rate of 15 percent on inherited assets as any non-relative would be. For those who have been in established relationships and marriages, this is unfair and must change.
Civil marriage equality in Pennsylvania is before the court, and a decision in favor may be handed down at the end of May of this year. Whether sooner or later and like death and taxes, civil marriage equality in Pennsylvania is inevitable.
Paula Johnston of Connellsville is a region organizer in Southwestern Pennsylvania for ME4PA/MEUSA.