Countless LGBTQ elders who survived discriminatory laws are now eligible to be paid reparation benefits under the Biden administration, according to them.
The Biden administration made several changes and dismissed reversions to more oppressive laws against LGBTQ people, one of which is the right for LGBTQ couples to receive spousal benefits while never being married due to bans against same-gender marriage.
This came to a turning point with joint cases Eli vs. Saul and Thornton vs. Saul, which ended with the ruling that same-gender couples should not be denied current assistance due to past discrimination.
“I wanted Social Security to see that here was a lesbian couple that was together for 27 years, and here are the consequences of not having equal rights under the law,” says Helen Thornton, plaintiff in Thornton vs. Saul.
Thornton, who had a 30-year relationship with the late Margery Brown receives almost $2,000 monthly under the survivor benefits. This doubles what she made before the benefit kicked in. This came after a $72,000 initial payment to atone for years of her being denied payment, having tried to sign up in 2015.
This mirrors Anthony Gonzales’ story. He is from Arizona, where they only began issuing licenses for same-gender marriages in 2013. His partner died of colon cancer in early 2014. The length of the marriage denied him benefits and Gonzales wanted to fight this. He now also receives nearly $2,000 monthly, joint with a one-time payment of $90,000.
“We both believed that as gay men we should have the same rights as anybody else,”says Gonzales.
Gonzales and Thornton both fit into a larger category of people who wanted to find peace in these troubling times, only to be stepped on and ignored in a system that very clearly did not care about them. The fact that it took this long for these people to be recognized as victims of the broken system we continue to live under is both stunning and completely expected at the same time.
