Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade
This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade certified 10 propositions will appear on the ballot in November to amend the Texas constitution. Among the proposals is another special right for straight people.
Most of the propositions deal with mundane governmental functions, but Proposition 1 would apply to heterosexual couples and exclude say and lesbian couples.
Proposition Number 1:
SJR 14 would amend the constitution to authorize the legislature to provide the surviving spouse of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran with an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the surviving spouse’s residence homestead as long as the surviving spouse has not remarried, the property was the residence homestead of the surviving spouse when the qualifying veteran died, and the property remains the residence homestead of the surviving spouse.
The proposed amendment would appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran.”
In other words the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran would be given a tax break as long as it’s a heterosexual couple. A same-sex spouse would not be entitled to that tax break because of the state’s discriminatory Defense of Marriage law and refusal to recognize all marriages performed in other states or countries.
The proposition will likely pass, but the LGBT community should not support a law that discriminates against them.
At Tuesday night’s Stonewall Democrats of Dallas meeting, Dave Gainer of the SLDN mentioned that the repeal of DADT did nothing to provide same-sex military spouses with the benefits their heterosexual counterparts receive. Nor did the repeal help our trans sisters and brothers. We have much more work to do.
Mr. Taffet is absolutely correct. Other situations are in the forefront now as well, such as the end of don’t ask, don’t tell that still leave gays/lesbians in circumstances in no way equal to their heterosexual counterparts – ( benefits, etc.) However, this amendment also very definitively omits a homestead tax exemption for widows such as myself, that did not have a homestead when my spouse (who served in WW!!, Korea and Vietnbam and was 100% disabled) died. I have not remarried. I purchased a home 4 months after his death. I am now 68 years old and totally disabled since 2004 My husband left the Army in very poor shape, physically and mentally. I know he would be very disappointed that I am specifically excluded from this benefit.