MARRIAGE
What’s Love Got to Do With Disability Insurance?
LGBTQ people with disabilities discuss marriage’s impact on government benefi ts
BY NICOLE AKOUKOU THOMPSON
Tying the knot could mean
a loss of health coverage,
income support and other
essential resources for
millions of Americans.
To many folks in the queer community,
the phrase “marriage
equality” harkens memories of the
decades-long uphill battle culminating
in a watershed Supreme
Court ruling in 2015, whereby
same-sex marriage was made legal
throughout the United States.
Yet, a separate fi ght rallied on for
vulnerable individuals living with
physical and “invisible” disabilities
(autism, mental health or developmental
challenges) dependent on
disability benefi ts.
There’s a segment of that population
that is often dissuaded
from cohabitation and marriage
because of oppressive and unfair
Social Security rules. The Social
Security rules, frequently referred
to as the “marriage penalties,” signify
a loss of disability benefi ts
when a benefi ciary of Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) marries
or cohabits with anyone, whether
a fellow benefi ciary or a person not
in the SSI program. This marriage
issue transcends race, culture,
age, sexual orientation or gender
identity; the reductions translate
to fewer dollars to pay for food and
life-sustaining essentials.
Approximately 26 percent (one in
4) of the United States’ 259,393,206
adults have some type of disability,
and there are 69,828,000 individuals
in the US receiving Social Security,
Supplemental Security Income
Kathy Stewart and Vicky Mangus at their wedding ceremony in Charlotte, North Carolina.
(SSI), or both (as of the summer of
2021). Just 24 percent of SSI recipients
18 or older (1.5 million) are married,
compared with 57 percent of all
adults in the United States. These
numbers aren’t helped by the unassailable
barriers to marriage imposed
by the Social Security Administration
and its “marriage penalties”.
“Marriage equality has the power
to change the cultural narrative
about what is to be LGBTQ,” Jax
Jacki Brown, a writer, speaker,
and disability and queer rights
activist/educator based in Melbourne,
Australia, told Gay City
News. “It means we can aspire to
the same things as other people —
and subvert them. It is an institution
that historically has been very
heteronormative and based on cisgendered
notions, so being able to
question some of these ideas as
LGBTIQA+ folks affi rm our relationships
REUTERS/DAVIS TURNER
through marriage is an
important cultural action.”
People with disabilities as a
whole have often been excluded
from conversations on marriage
equality, according to Kris Guin,
who is the founder of Queerability,
an LGBTQ+ and disability justice
organization, and advisor to the
Autism Society of America.
“While I am thrilled that my
non-disabled LGBTQ+ siblings
can get married, I often think
about how much more inclusive
the outcome of the fi ght for marriage
equality could have been if
the LGBTQ+ and disability communities
worked in solidarity with
each other, especially considering
that one part of the disability community
— the Autistic community
— has research that indicates that
it has higher rates of people who
are LGBTQ+ than the general population,”
Guin told Gay City News.
The system is antagonistic, forcing
strict income and resource limits. A
New York Times article published
last year, written by contributor
and disability scholar Ari Ne’eman,
called the disability benefi ts rules
“Kafkaesque.” Perhaps this is evident
because the US federal poverty
guideline for a single-person household
is $12,880. Yet, dependents receive
an unrounded annual income
of just $9,530.12. The prospect of
marriage then threatens the meager
wage due to the fl imsy pretext of
saving taxpayers money.
“I think this stems from the fact
that people with disabilities are
still by and large seen as not desirable,
both as possibilities for a
pash on a Saturday night and as
long-term partners,” Brown said,
making visible that disability care
concerns are important beyond
the US. “When I moved in with
my partner, my payment was signifi
cantly reduced, making me fi -
nancially dependent on her. This
fi nancial dependency is concerning.
While my relationship is great
seven years in, for others, this
inequality may lead to fi nancial
abuse and entrench the ableism
within a relationship.”
The penalty can affect people
with a wide variety of disabilities,
but not every person with disabilities.
There are disparities in marriage
penalties, as only certain individuals
with specifi c disabilities
are affected, while others are not.
Among the considerations for the
penalty are disability type, one’s
work record, work income, savings,
or whether one’s signifi cant
other is on SSI or SSDI.
The devastating loss of income
and imperative healthcare insurance
aside, many also lose access
to equally essential support services,
such as Section 8, food stamps,
welfare, and PCA (personal care
assistant) care providers who offer
crucial assistance with self-care
tasks, such as dressing, cooking,
or cleaning. For those who have
physical impairments, losing such
benefi ts could result in loss of life.
Jacob (name changed to protect
privacy) and many like him depend
on PCA care. At age 17, while en
route to his senior prom, Jacob’s
car was struck by a taxi cab on
Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. He
and his girlfriend were rushed to
a nearby hospital, both in critical
condition. Jacob survived, while
his girlfriend, who he intended to
propose to that night, died. Nearly
three decades later, he’s found love
➤ MARRIAGE, continued on p.11
September 23 - October 6,10 2021 | GayCityNews.com
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