The U. S. Supreme Court will likely issue its landmark ruling on state and federal bans on same-sex marriage in the coming days — and, regardless of the myriad ways the justices could rule, marriage equality will be center stage on television, in newspapers and across social media.
While the LGBT community is deservedly anxiously awaiting the outcomes of these momentous cases, this is a good opportunity to educate the public — both those who already support our community and others who have more learning to do — about the countless other rights struggles the LGBT population is facing.
Marriage is something to which non-LGBTs can relate and understand — whether from their own relationships, that of their parents, family members, friends or in popular media. People get what it means to be married and, as growing numbers of people have gay family members and friends, it’s not hard to make the connection to why loved ones shouldn’t be deprived the same rights afforded to you.
While most Americans and Pennsylvanians know there’s a patchwork of marriage-equality laws in the nation, and that the fight is ongoing, far fewer likely know that we lack both a federal and state law prohibiting LGBT people from being fired for their orientation or identity. In a recent survey of Pennsylvania small-business owners, the vast majority was unaware of the gaps in state and federal laws, although they supported such an initiative. Pennsylvania and many other states also lack protections for LGBT people in their hate-crimes laws. Same-sex couples are impacted by a host of discriminatory state laws, including that they are not exempt from potentially hefty inheritance taxes in the event of the death of their partner, unlike married heterosexual couples.
And even the marriage-equality movement has a wealth of other issues involved. If and when the Defense of Marriage Act falls, it will not mean marriage for all gay and lesbian Americans, but rather that legally married couples are eligible for Social Security benefits, can jointly file taxes, sponsor a foreign partner for citizenship and a sea of other effects.
These and many other issues aren’t getting the attention and support that same-sex marriage is — not because the support doesn’t exist, but rather because the awareness and the personal connection may both be lacking. Job discrimination, violence and legal and financial hurdles may not be things that would-be allies have much personal experience with, lessening the chances of those issues having personal resonance.
LGBTs should take the opportunity afforded by the Supreme Court cases to not only talk about marriage, but the many other ways in which the community is denied its rights. Many Americans may assume that the blossoming support for marriage equality means that gays and lesbians already have the host of rights that are still eluding the community. With attention on the LGBT-rights movement in the coming weeks, now is the time to set the record straight on LGBT inequality.