During their 36 year partnership, Andi and Barbara worked, raised a heterosexual son, became grandparents, and purchased a home. In the 1970′s, the two women were married in a religious ceremony. Twenty-five years later, they renewed their vows at the home they shared, in the presence of members of their church community, in front of scores of friends and before their large, supportive family.

Barbara nursed Andi when she was critically injured in an automobile accident. Andi nursed Barbara as she struggled for ten years with the emphysema that finally took her life. On Valentine’s Day, 2005, Andi made the difficult decision to remove Barbara’s life support. “I was keeping her alive for ME – I had to let her go. She was the stronger one, but I had to let her go and now, here I am,” says Andi.

At the time of her death, Barbara had been collecting Social Security and her monthly income was $1600. Together with Andi’s $900 benefit, the household income was $2500 per month. But Barbara died and her monthly benefit was denied to her widow. With that, Andi’s monthly income plunged to just $900 per month.

Widowed and now poor, Andi was forced out of the home she and Barbara had shared and into subsidized housing - but that’s because she’s one of the lucky ones. She was able to qualify for a place that she could afford. If Andi and Barbara’s marriages counted in the eyes of the federal government, Andi would now be receiving Barbara’s benefit of $1600 per month. She would still have a lower income than before, but she would have been able to keep her home. She would have been able to participate in the American dream that she and Barbara had shared and built.

Andi doesn’t want a hand-out, or special treatment. Andi wants the benefit of a safety net that other Americans take for granted. Andi wants YOU to join her and Rock for Equality so together we can end Social Security discrimination.

Bill also enjoys his work. That’s a good thing, since he’ll have to work well past the retirement age he’ll hit in 2011. Bill has never earned as much as Harvey, so his Social Security benefit won’t be nearly as much as Harvey’s either. Instead of Harvey’s monthly $2400 benefit, he’ll probably get about $500.

If Bill were “Billy Jeane” a woman, and s/he and Harvey were allowed to do what they always wanted to do and marry - Bill would hit his retirement age in 2011 and his benefit would be lifted to the same amount as Harvey’s. In other words, Bill’s $500 monthly benefit would convert to a total of $2,400. Would he be allowed to collect both his benefit and Harvey’s? No. But he would be able to claim the higher of the two. When this plan was established, the thought was that, by providing the larger of the two benefits to a surviving partner, the federal government was doing its part to help ensure the financial stability of that survivor. This put the “security”in “social security” and kept widows and widowers from falling into poverty that would in turn drain other sectors of the economy. It was not only humane, it was smart.

Bill says, “We were a team  – just like any married couple. And we built something wonderful together. I just want what all those other teams get  – nothing more.”

Bill doesn’t want a hand-out, or special treatment. Bill wants the benefit of a safety net that other Americans take for granted. Bill wants YOU to join him and Rock for Equality so that, together, we can end Social Security discrimination.

Coco and Connie are married in every sense of the word, and their commitment to family runs deep. With their marriage, they have not only created their own small family, but they in turn provide a secure safety net to members of their extended family. Currently, they take care of Connie’s mother, along with other relatives. They provide security for their loved ones. All the while, they are paying into a system of Social Security that offers them NO security at all - simply because they are a lesbian couple.

“This is purely discrimination!”observes a frustrated Coco. “To think that after 39 years of paying into Social Security that if something happens to me, it’s not going to go to Concepcion, that’s a pain in the stomach,” she continues.

Coco’concerns about their future are real. More than a decade ago Connie was diagnosed with a chronic illness, which makes it impossible for her to continue to work full time. Now, Coco is the sole family breadwinner - she works as a manager in a law firm and works two additional part-time jobs to make ends meet and to provide for Connie.

Coco and Connie have a strong relationship, they contribute to their community, they are active in their church, they work hard and they take care of each other and the members of their family, but the federal government does not support their relationship or their contributions. Moreover, the federal government demands that they contribute to a Social Security system that actively and blatantly denies them access to the very contributions they’ve made.

Coco and Concepcion don’t want a hand-out, or special treatment. They only want the benefit of a safety net that other Americans take for granted. Coco and Connie want YOU to join them and Rock for Equality so together we can end Social Security discrimination.

Click here to sponsor Coco.

When Sylvia was in the end stages of her illness, it became legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in California. So that’s what Sylvia and Alice did. They got married. In the hospital. With Alice at Sylvia’s bedside, just as she had been for nearly two years. In the end, members of the once-skeptical hospital staff jammed Sylvia’s room to witness the women’s vows and to celebrate their union.

Sylvia’s death devastated Alice. But her illness wiped her out financially because of the unique relationship that MediCal and Social Security share. Here’s how it works:
If you’re single, MediCal takes nearly 100% of your Social Security benefit if you suffer long-term hospitalization because no one is likely to be depending on your benefits.
If you’re married, MediCal takes only 50% of your Social Security benefit if you suffer long-term hospitalization because someone might be depending on your benefits.

Alice spent a lifetime being a school teacher and social worker. She gave a lot to her community and her work was rewarding but not lucrative. As a result, her Social Security retirement benefit is modest. Sylvia bootstrapped herself from hat-check girl to accountant to the CFO of a major corporation. Her Social Security benefit was the maximum - almost $2,400 per month.

Although Alice and Sylvia were together for 42 years and were legally married in a state that recognized their union, Alice was no one in the eyes of the federal government. Had she been someone, she would have been given benefits to help bury Sylvia, and she would have been able to claim Sylvia’s Social Security benefits. Unfortunately, the federal government doesn’t recognize Alice as someone in relationship to Sylvia. So when Sylvia died, Alice was denied benefits and could no longer afford the apartment they had shared.

Even now, Alice wonders what happened to all the money Sylvia paid into Social Security.  “Maybe it went to fight a war somewhere or to bail out a bank. I don’t know. But it certainly didn’t come to me. And that isn’t fair. And that isn’t fair for anybody else this happens to,” she observes.

Alice was lucky. She found low-income housing that would take her and her only remaining family: the two cats that Sylvia rescued. Alice says “I’d sleep in my car with these cats rather than in an apartment without them - they were Sylvia’s. She loved them and I love her.”

Alice doesn’t want a hand-out, or special treatment. Alice wants the benefit of a safety net that other Americans take for granted. Alice wants YOU to join her and Rock for Equality so together we can end Social Security discrimination.

Click here to sponsor Alice.