Greetings:

I am appalled at the unfairness in the current tax system as regards
same-sex couples. It makes me wonder if compassion is dying or already
dead in the United States. It\'s unworthy of us as a nation.

People once thought epileptic fits were a sign that a person was
possessed by the devil and the person in question was likely to be put
to death. Of course, now we know better. Have we learned nothing? Are we
entering a new \"Dark Ages\"?

Psychologists assure us that \"gayness\" is a result of biology and thus
beyond a person\'s control rather than a choice on their part. Yet there
are those who persist in seeing gayness as a sign of evil and who wish
to punish gays for possessing a genetic trait. It makes no more sense
than persecuting someone who is born \"different\" in any other more
physically visible manner such as dwarfism.

I fear we are marching rapidly backwards in this country and will be
viewed by all reasonable people in the world as ignorant, bigoted, and
deluded in addition to unbearably arrogant where once we were the
leaders in science and medicine and tolerance. We once we admired. I
read the foreign press. We are fast becoming a laughing stock, feared,
and detested all at the same thim. How very tragic.

It\'s time we started marching forward again and displaying the
tolerance and wisdom that was evident in our nation\'s founding fathers
and thus in our Constitution.

Since gayness is a genetic trait it can occur sooner or later in ANY
family. Do we want to keep laws that will disenfranchise our grandsons
and granddaughters? Think about it. If Dick Cheney can have a gay
daughter, so can any of us.

The following are some of the totally unacceptable consequences of an
unfair tax system as regards gay couples:

-   **Health Insurance for Partners - A Taxing Proposition:** Employees
    pay income and payroll tax on the health insurance premiums their
    employers provide for domestic partners who do not otherwise qualify
    as dependents. Benefits for different-sex spouses are not subject to
    this tax.

-   **Flexible Spending Accounts Not So Flexible:** Employees can use
    flexible spending accounts to pay for a different-sex spouse\'s
    medical expenses, including eyeglasses, prescriptions, and co-pays,
    on a pre-tax basis. These accounts cannot be used for a same-sex
    partner, or even a same-sex spouse.

-   **Retirement Savings - Death and Taxes:** Tax treatment of
    retirement savings, such as those found in 401(k) plans, privileges
    spouses and penalizes same-sex couples. This means that on the death
    of a partner, the surviving partner is left not only with the same
    emotional loss that a different-sex spouse experiences, but also
    with an unfair tax bill. This is problem is made even more acute by
    the fact that same-sex couples are denied survivors\' benefits under
    Social Security, even though they pay the same payroll taxes as
    heterosexual workers.

-   **Estate and Gift Taxes - Strangers Under the Law:** Different-sex
    spouses get a complete exemption from estate and gift taxes. But
    same-sex partners, even ones who are married in Massachusetts or
    parties to civil unions in Vermont, are treated as strangers under
    the tax code. So when a partner dies, their estate is subject to
    taxation.

Surely we can do better than this. We MUST do better than this.

Respectfully,

Carolyn Cooper

Tempe, Arizona

\-\-\-\--Original Message\-\-\-\--

From: Carolyn Cooper
\[[[mailto:ttbcooper@msn.com]{.underline}](mailto:ttbcooper@msn.com)\]

Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 12:54 PM

To: comments

Cc: field@hrc.org

Subject: Unfairness in the current tax system

Greetings:

I am appalled at the unfairness in the current tax system as regards
same-sex couples. It makes me wonder if compassion is dying or already
dead in the United States. It\'s unworthy of us as a nation.

People once thought epileptic fits were a sign that a person was
possessed by the devil and the person in question was likely to be put
to death. Of course, now we know better. Have we learned nothing? Are we
entering a new \"Dark Ages\"?

Psychologists assure us that \"gayness\" is a result of biology and thus
beyond a person\'s control rather than a choice on their part. Yet there
are those who persist in seeing gayness as a sign of evil and who wish
to punish gays for possessing a genetic trait. It makes no more sense
than persecuting someone who is born \"different\" in any other more
physically visible manner such as dwarfism.

I fear we are marching rapidly backwards in this country and will be
viewed by all reasonable people in the world as ignorant, bigoted, and
deluded in addition to unbearably arrogant where once we were the
leaders in science and medicine and tolerance. We once we admired. I
read the foreign press. We are fast becoming a laughing stock, feared,
and detested all at the same thim. How very tragic.

It\'s time we started marching forward again and displaying the
tolerance and wisdom that was evident in our nation\'s founding fathers
and thus in our Constitution.

Since gayness is a genetic trait it can occur sooner or later in ANY
family. Do we want to pass laws that will disenfranchise our grandsons
and granddaughters? Think about it. If Dick Cheney can have a gay
daughter, so can you!

The following are some of the totally unacceptable consequences of an
unfair tax system as regards gay couples:

1\. Health Insurance for Partners - A Taxing Proposition: Employees pay

income and payroll tax on the health insurance premiums their employers
provide for domestic partners who do not otherwise qualify as
dependents. Benefits for different-sex spouses are not subject to this
tax.

2\. Flexible Spending Accounts Not So Flexible: Employees can use

flexible spending accounts to pay for a different-sex spouse\'s medical
expenses, including eyeglasses, prescriptions, and co-pays, on a pre-tax
basis. These accounts cannot be used for a same-sex partner, or even a
same-sex spouse.

3\. Retirement Savings - Death and Taxes: Tax treatment of retirement

savings, such as those found in 401(k) plans, privileges spouses and
penalizes same-sex couples. This means that on the death of a partner,
the surviving partner is left not only with the same emotional loss that
a different-sex spouse experiences, but also with an unfair tax bill.
This is problem is made even more acute by the fact that same-sex
couples are denied survivors\' benefits under Social Security, even
though they pay the same payroll taxes as heterosexual workers.

4\. Estate and Gift Taxes - Strangers Under the Law: Different-sex

spouses get a complete exemption from estate and gift taxes. But
same-sex partners, even ones who are married in Massachusetts or parties
to civil unions in Vermont, are treated as strangers under the tax code.
So when a partner dies, their estate is subject to taxation.

Surely we can do better than this. We MUST do better than this.

Respectfully,

Carolyn Cooper

p.s. I\'m attaching this text as a Word \'97 document since I\'m told
that is what you need (i.e. my letter in the form of an attachment).