“We Don’t Support Connecticut Civil Union Returns”
CT, Marriage Equality March 26th, 2008Add this to the list of reasons why Civil Unions are but a stepping stone to full marriage equality.
The Capitol Watch blog reports that HR Block’s tax software greets parties to a civil union* who log on to the HR Block website to file their taxes with a message reading “We don’t support Connecticut Civil Union returns.” More:
Turns out Block meant that its software doesn’t support civil-union returns.
The ACLU, which sent Block a warning letter today, says that is illegal discrimination under Connecticut law. The company will compute the taxes of same-sex couples in civil unions if they come into their local H&R Block, but that costs $155 more than doing it online.
This is just one instance where the difference between civil unions and marriages causes not just inconvenience, but insult. On top of that, it’ll be $155, plus a trip to HR Block.
If you want to lend your support to the cause of achieving full marriage equality in Connecticut, you can contribute or volunteer for Love Makes a Family.
*This presents another inequity. When a man and woman enter into a marriage, they are married. When two adults enter into a civil union, they are what exactly? There is no less-than-awkward way to describe their relationship. The awkwardness is not inherent in the relationship, it comes from the fact that their relationship is relegated to a second class.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Thank you for highlighting this. Makes me wonder if in a different decade, they would not have been able to “support” female wage earners who claimed their husbands as dependent.
Bias is everywhere.
Hope you are doing well, btw.