Hundreds demand equal Social Security benefits for same-sex couples

An energized crowd of hundreds of people rallied at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and marched more than a mile to the Social Security Administration office in Hollywood on April 11 to demand an end to the unconscionable discrimination that deprives same-sex couple taxpayers of more than $120 million in Social Security benefits every year.

Same-sex couples pay into the Social Security system, but are denied benefits when a partner dies, including retirement benefits, survivor benefits and disability insurance. Since 2000, these benefits have totaled more than $2 billion.

The Center partnered with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in coalition with the AIDS Community Action Foundation, to launch Rock for Equality.

During the rally, U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, a member of the House Subcommittee on Social Security, announced that she will author legislation to provide equal Social Security benefits for same-sex couples and U.S. Rep. Judy Chu offered to co-author the bill.

Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey was joined by U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (left), who rallied the crowd and referred to fellow speaker and author of forthcoming legislation to end discrimination in Social Security, U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez.

“Same-sex couples are being systematically short-changed by unfair Social Security policies, costing our families $2 billion in the past decade alone,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “The shock of this inequity comes at one of the most vulnerable times in our lives: when we lose our partner. Social Security was created to protect all Americans in their later years, but this hasn't been the case for our families. We thank Rep. Linda Sanchez for committing to author legislation to end this unfairness once and for all.”

Other political and community leaders who spoke out at the event included U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson, L.A. City Councilmember Paul Koretz, West Hollywood Mayor Abbe Land, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey and AIDS Community Action Foundation President Craig R. Miller.

2006 Task Force honoree and 3rd-term U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer revved up the crowd.

“We now have quality, affordable health care coming to all. What good is the quality of our health care in America if Americans are not treated equally under all of our laws?” said Rep. Sanchez. “I look at this country — which is great but could be made better — and I see that there is still discrimination … I don’t think it’s right that Americans should be treated differently by the country they love because of who they love.”

“We must stop the discrimination heaped upon our elders just when they are suffering profound grief after losing a partner,” L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean said. “They shared their lives for 20, 30 even 40 years — and paid into Social Security with every paycheck just like everyone else. But they are cheated out of survivor benefits because their relationships are not recognized by the Social Security system.”

At Rock for Equality, it was announced that “What Kind of Planet Are We On?” — an online video that tells the story of a lesbian alien who is denied Social Security benefits — triumphed in YouTube's 4th Annual DoGooder Awards. The video, which won the Best Innovation in Video category, was featured at the top of the YouTube homepage, where it reached hundreds of thousands with its message about the need to stop discrimination in Social Security benefits. By Sunday afternoon the video, which is featured at www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards, had been viewed more than 350,000 times.

Watch more personal stories of discrimination here.

The Task Force recently released Outing Age 2010: Public Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Elders, an in-depth look at public policy issues and challenges facing millions of people in the United States. Outing Age 2010 found that federal safety-net programs like Social Security define family and partnership in ways that exclude same-sex couples and their families, creating economic and familial hardships. The study called for an end to such discrimination.