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Speaking the Language of Marriage: A Labor Perspective
Courtesty of Pride At Work
Labor has a long history of fighting for equal rights for working people. Included in this proud tradition is support for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered workers.
Labor has been a leading force in securing Domestic Partner Benefits and adding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity to non-discrimination clauses by including those demands in their collective bargaining agreements.
There are more than 1,000 rights and protections under federal law alone to which married couples are entitled. Many, such as Social Security benefits, and workers' compensations, derive from an individual's employment status.
Refusing to legally recognize same-sex relationships deprives thousands of families of the most important attributes of their labor; the ability to take care of and provide for their family members.
Opponents of working people's interests use marriage as a wedge issue to divide our strength.
Same-sex couples are devoted to each other, they love each other, they have kids and they love their families. Since marriage is the way the government provides protection, support, and respect for families, it's only fair that these families get those things too.
Without marriage same-sex couples are left vulnerable or left scrambling to cobble together a patchwork of legal documents that still don't provide them with the security and protections their families need.
People have different religious beliefs about gay people, and also about the importance of treating people as you'd like to be treated. In our country, we respect people's religous differences, and also believe that government doesn't take sides on religious matters. This is not about religious matters; this is about who can get a civil marriage license from the government and enter into a legal relationship of commitment and obligations. The government needs to focus on being fair, and giving every family a fair shake.
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Contrary to right-wing claims that same-sex couples are largely white, male, upper-class citizens, 2000 Census data show same-sex couples are even more racially diverse than the general population, come from all types of backgrounds, and live in 99% of the counties in America. As they try and take care of each other and their families, they have the same sets of economic decisions to make as everyone else. This publication explores some of the many ways that same-sex committed couples experience numerous economic injustices directly connected to their exclusion from the protections marriage provides under the law.
National Pride At Work is a constituency group of the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations) which works to mobilize mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBT Community around organizing for social and economic justice.
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates is a national organization devoted to protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the workplace.
Employer policies that treat employees with same-sex partners or spouses equally would improve the health and well-being of their families, which results in gains for both the employee and his or her family as well as to the employer. Small costs to the employer are balanced out by benefits to employers from positive effects on employees' productivity, health, and stability. Businesses in the wedding-related industries will experience increased revenues and profits from more weddings. In addition, state and federal budgets will see a net gain.
