After reading both the New York Times article  by Tara Bernard and the comments that followed, I had a mix of emotions, laughter and anger.

On the one hand it’s comical.  Many same-sex partners, whom are married and living in states (CA, NV, WA) that recognize their marriage or Registered Domestic Partnership (RDP), will actually benefit from the new tax laws. Those couples where one partner  earns significantly more then the other, could take advantage of the Combined Community Income (Form 555) filing. They would total their income, split it, and report half each thereby putting the higher earner in a lower tax bracket.  Ms. Bernard used an example of one couple, with one partner earning $82K per year and the other not earning at all, splitting the earnings on separate returns generating a $4800 in tax savings.

I HAD  to see the language on this IRS form. So I pulled it up on the net and right on the cover of IRS Form 555 it states:

This publication is also for registered domestic partners (RDPs) who are domiciled in Nevada, Washington, or California and for individuals in California who, for state law purposes, are married to an individual of the same sex. For 2010, a RDP in Nevada, Washington, California (or a person in California who is married to a person of the same sex) generally must follow state community property laws and report half the combined  income of the individual and his or her RDP (or California same-sex spouse.These rules apply to RDPs in Nevada, Washington, California in 2010 because they have full community property rights in 2010. California RDPs attained these rights as of January 1, 2007. Nevada RDPs attained them as of October 1, 2009, and Washington RDPs attained them as of June 12, 2008. For years prior to 2010, RDPs who  reported income without regard to the community property laws may file amended returns to report half of the community income of the RDPs for the applicable periods, but are not required to do so. If one of the RDPs files an amended  return to report half of the community income, the other spouse.  RDPs (and individuals in California who are married to an individual of the same sex) are not married for federal than tax purposes. They can use only the single filing status, or  the head of household filing status.  

When I see language like this I begin to panic and break into a cold sweat. Certainly Turbo Tax can’t handle this (at least not yet). And I usually use Turbo Tax to do my relatively easy return. Luckily, for tax purposes anyway, I reside in AZ and can’t file my taxes this way.

For the couples living in CA, WA and NV, who do chose to file in this manner, I can’t help wondering if their tax savings won’t go an Accountant who now has to muddle through this maze. And I also can’t help thinking how much time is spent by government workers making up new tax rules that would be totally unnecessary if same-sex marriage were recognized by the federal government. At least President Obama has taken the first step major step towards marriage equality in his position on DOMA. But until same-sex marriage is permitted in all 50 states I hope gay couples in these states will take advantage of whatever tax break you can get.

Just a reminder, to get to the movies this week.

At the Loft, on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd at 7:30 PM, Out in the Silence will be presented. Admission is free for this event sponsored by the Pima County Public Library. The filmaker, Joe Wilson will be there along with members of Wingspan’s Anti-Violence Project staff to lead a Q and A after the performance.

On Wednesday, February 23rd, Training Rules, will air from 7 to 9 PM at the Gallagher Theater inside the U of A Student Union. This film is presented by the U of Arizona’s  LGBTQ /affairs, ASUA’s Pride Alliance and the Women’s Resource Center. This screening is also free and is part of a series of films dealing with LGBTQ issues. This film is a documentary about homophobia in women’s sports, specifically the lawsuit filed against Penn State and the head basketball coach Rene Portland. There will also be two guest speakers to address the audience, Dr. Kat Sinclair, who was involved with the LGBTQ community at Penn State during the time this lawsuit occured and the U of A’s own Jennifer Croissant of the Women’s Studies Dept.

On Tuesday, February 22^ndat 7:30 PM, The Loft will screen “Out in the Silence” an event co-hosted by the Theater and the Pima County Library.  The film’s director, Joe Wilson along with members of Wingspan’s Anti-Violence Project, will be present at a post screening Q and A.

The hour long documentary, “Out in the Silence” follows Joe Wilson as he returns to his home town of Oil City, PA, to seek out the reasons why his boyhood community reacted the way it did when he announced his same-sex wedding in their local paper, The Derrick, and why the people in Oil City were not protecting a 15 year old gay student, C.J. Springer , who was enrolled in the local High School from harassment and violence.

I watched the documentary on HULU and learned that Oil City is not unlike many small town communities today, who still struggle with bigotry and hatred fueled by organizations such as The American Family Association and their efforts to fight equal rights for the GLBT community. During Mr. Wilson’s personal interviews with townspeople he meets Diane Gramley, a member of the American Family Association who has a local radio show.  There is audio of Ms. Gramley’s radio show where she can be heard speaking out against the possibility of the Oil City School Board instituting a diversity curriculum, something that might protect both gay students and minorities in their schools. He also interviews a local pastor and his wife, the gay teen’s mother and father, and another family of a gay teen who was harassed at another nearby school in PA.

After watching Out in the Silence, I came away with two confirmed messages. One, there is still a long way to go with fighting hatred and bigotry against GLBT Americans and secondly that, when it is the right time for a person to come out-and that is not all that easy and safe for some people to do, the coming out opens windows of opportunities to open dialogues which may help to decrease the bigotry.  The quote by Audre Lourde at the beginning of the film sums up this  point,  “When we speak we are afraid that our words will not be heard or welcome. But when we are silent we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.”