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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
September 11 Relief Efforts And Surviving Same-Sex Partners: Reflections On Relationships In The Absence Of Legal Recognition, Nancy J. Knauer
September 11 Relief Efforts And Surviving Same-Sex Partners: Reflections On Relationships In The Absence Of Legal Recognition, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
The criteria established by federal, state, and private relief efforts to assist the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks present a unique opportunity to examine the status of same-sex relationships in the United States. In the absence of uniform relationship recognition, surviving same-sex partners continue to struggle with a loss that legally is not cognizable. The stories from the September 11 survivors illustrate that a surviving partner is a legal stranger, who often must reconfigure her relationship with her partner to fit within the various legal categories where relief or compensation might be forthcoming. These legal categories …
Heteronormativity And The Federal Tax Code, Nancy J. Knauer
Heteronormativity And The Federal Tax Code, Nancy J. Knauer
Nancy J. Knauer
Proponents of same-sex marriage demand equal marriage rights as a matter of fundamental human dignity and as a means to gain certain legal benefits and protections. The ability to file joint federal income tax returns is invariably listed as one of the benefits associated with marriage. This outsider perspective contradicts the popular notion that the income tax is anti-marriage and offers a useful vantage point from which to analyze the marital provisions of the federal tax code, the treatment of the provisions in tax scholarship, and legislative proposals for "pro-family" tax reform. The joint filing provisions are just one example …