FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New Marriage Laws Increase Real Estate Rights for GLBT Couples

The Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. General Accounting Office lists more than 1,100 itemized benefits the United States government provides to legally married couples. Those include tax breaks on real estate and mortgage transactions and the automatic inheritance of a home in the event of the death of a spouse. The surviving partner in a same-sex union or marriage, for example, may be required to pay estate taxes that amount to as much as 50 percent of the value of their shared property. Legally married couples, by contrast, automatically inherit each other’s property with absolutely zero tax consequences. A gay couple can buy a house together and live in it for decades, for instance, while sharing the mortgage and taxes. But if one partner dies the other can lose their life partner, their savings, and their house -- all at the same time -- with devastating emotional and financial repercussions.

With the recent rulings in Iowa and Maine -- and previous legalization in Connecticut -- the tide appears to be turning in a positive direction. Massachusetts already recognizes gay marriages, and in Vermont gay marriage legislation passed despite a veto threat from the governor. In Rhode Island, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage has been introduced that many expect to pass next year. Meanwhile the governor of New York has ordered the executive departments of his state to fully recognize same sex marriages from other jurisdictions, and the city council of Washington D.C. voted to do likewise. Because D.C. is a federal jurisdiction the measure must first be approved by the United States Congress, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi favors passage of the bill and it stands a good chance of support in the Democratically-controlled Congress.

Elsewhere, nearly 700 same-sex unions have been registered in New Hampshire since they became legal there at the beginning of last year, and the state is close to recognizing gay marriage. The New Hampshire state legislature passed a controversial marriage bill in that state in recent weeks, and Governor John Lynch said in early May that he will sign it once provisions like those followed in Vermont and Connecticut are added to clarify the freedom of choice of religious institutions. In Hawaii supporters of a civil union bill succeeded in early May in bringing it to the floor of the Senate for a vote, but within minutes the bill was tabled until next year by a special amendment. The bill, if passed, will grant gay and lesbian couples all the legal benefits of marriage -- without legalizing actual marriage. New Jersey already follows a similar law, giving identical rights to gay unions that it confers upon married couples -- but without legalizing same-sex marriages. Even in conservative Utah the governor has voiced support for same-sex unions and a package of other basic LGBT rights. The federal government still abides by rules that fail to recognize same-sex marriages, and that effectively denies LGBT couples federal benefits covering everything from Social Security payments to spouses to IRS benefits for married couples who buy and own real estate. But it does appear that a domino effect in favor of same-sex marriages at the state level is gaining remarkable momentum in 2009, and that adds pressure for passage of federal GLBT equal rights legislation.

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