This is a special episode titled Money, Money, Money: Closing The Gap for LGBTQ Seniors Access to SSA Survivor Benefits. LGBTQ seniors who lost their partners before marriage was legal or before they reached the nine month mark are finally getting justice. They are getting paid for the benefits they were due thanks to the Biden administration and Lambda Legal.

00:00 – Welcome & Intro

00:35 – The Qube ad, The one and only app curating the best of BIPOC & QTPOC podcasts & music. Be the first to know when the app drops. Sign up for the newsletter at https://theqube.app

01:13 – Intro music by Aina Bre’Yon

01:54 – History of the SSA Survivor Benefits

06:30 – Live broadcast of Money, Money, Money: Closing The Gap for LGBTQ Seniors Access to SSA Survivor Benefits

Things for you to check out 

Lambda Legal Information

https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/20210219_ely-thornton-class-info

Lambda Legal FAQs on how to reap benefits

https://www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/20210212_ely_faq

Ready to get started?

Contact Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or look up the phone number for your local, https://ssa.gov, SSA field office or reach out to Lambda Legals Help Desk, https://www.lambdalegal.org/helpdesk 

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Transcript

Family, this is your favorite queer radio personality Anna DeShawn here with our queer news from today. 

This is a special episode titled Money, Money, Money: Closing The Gap for LGBTQ Seniors Access to SSA Survivor Benefits. LGBTQ seniors who lost their partners before marriage was legal or before they reached the nine month mark are finally getting justice. They are getting paid for the benefits they were due thanks to the Biden administration and Lambda Legal.

On Tuesday, E3 Radio hosted a broadcast on YouTube alongside Lambda Legal to talk about a landmark moment for the LGBTQ community. We are officially able to reap SSA survivor benefits which overall doesn’t sound real sexy but it is. Can you imagine sharing your life with someone they pass away and then you can’t reap the SSA benefits they paid into their entire lives because you’re LGBT? Or perhaps you all shared your lives together and were married but your partner passes away before the nine month mark so you aren’t able to reap your partner’s SSA benefits? Well this absolutely was the case until recently and when I first heard about this story it brought a big smile to my face and let me tell you why. For so long our relationships were not seen as valid or legitimate in this country. So when marriage equality passed in 2015 it was a big game changer. Now while that was a huge deal there was still some unfinished business and one of those things was SSA survivor benefits. 

Back in November the Biden administration dropped appeals in two class action lawsuits that were filed during the 45 era. The appeals were filed by 45’s administration after Lambda Legal won two cases representing LGBTQ widowers who were fighting for their partners social security benefits. In one case the partner passed away before same-sex marriage was legal and in the other case the partner passed away before the couple hit the nine month minimum the Social Security administration requires to recoup benefits. Lambda Legal won these cases and we all know how much 45 and his administration hated all things LGBTQ so they decided to drag their feet and then appeal these rulings. Well now the Biden administration has dropped those appeals and LGBTQ widows can now begin collecting on these benefits and let me tell you they are collecting. For example, Helen Thornton was denied social security survivor benefits after her partner of 27 years passed away in 2006. A judge in Seattle, Judge James Robart, ruled that denying Ms. Helen these benefits violated her constitutional right to due process and equal protection. Ms. Helen was able to collect a lump sum of $72,000 dollars for the years of denied payments. This is huge as she’s been struggling since her partner died 16 years ago. Anthony Gonzales was with his partner for almost 16 years and was only married for six months so he was initially denied these benefits as well. Now, he was able to collect a lump sum of $90,000 dollars and a monthly check of $1,800. So follow me here. Survivors will be able to collect on a lump sum as well as begin receiving their monthly payouts which are averaging around $1,250 a month. 

Some survivors might assume they aren’t eligible because they never actually got married. But the Social Security Administration has trained its staff to gauge whether a survivor would have been married if it wasn’t for anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Among other factors, they look at whether the couple was in a committed relationship, lived together or owned property together, supported each other financially, raised children together, or held a commitment ceremony. No single factor determines the outcome; it’s a flexible standard meant to accommodate for the restraints that anti-LGBTQ hate imposed on same-sex couples. Applicants can provide documentation, and if they’re turned down, they have an opportunity to appeal. 

Family, I want to shout this to the rooftops. I can only imagine the number of people who have no idea this is an option for them. Thousands on thousands? We know money cannot heal the harm caused by homophobic policies but I believe this extra money can help our LGBTQ elders live better lives while they’re still here. Ya’ll go and tell two, three, four friends okay. That’s our job now and why we decided to host a broadcast about it. 

This episdoe is the recording of that broadcast sponsored by Lambda Legal, Affinity Community Services, the National Center for Lesbian Rights & Equality Illinois. I hope you enjoy it and learn something too cause the word today is we all we got. Till tomorrow, family. Peace.  

Sources

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Special Episode: Money, Money, Money: Closing The Gap for LGBTQ Seniors Access to SSA Survivor Benefits