EDNEYVILLE, N.C., June 12, 2006 — Charles Merrill (72) and his same-sex partner Kevin Boyle (52) have created huge momentum in their civil disobedience initiative of not paying Federal Income Tax because they cannot have the same tax benefits as other married couples.. They have been featured guests on radio, TV and in the print media, and it is angering Republican lawmakers pandering to the religious right.
The momentum for the same-sex marriage tax protest started with an article on Page Six in the New York Post and in an article on the Internet conservative giant, WorldNetDaily.com in February 2006. The articles were about Merrill and his partner protesting an anti-gay marriage amendment sponsored by President Bush. Merrill states, "As a result of nationwide publicity, we have had e-mails from hundreds of gay men and women from all over the country wanting to join us and asking how they could be a part of the gay tax protest." Boyle continued, "We gays will gladly pay our taxes once the government stops discrimination against us and passes laws that allows us to marry the person we love. We deserve the same Federal and State benefits as other married citizens."
Discrimination in the tax code has also caught the attention of Howard Dean, chairman of the National Democratic Party, and in a recent speech June 3, 2006 to the gay political group, National Stonewall Democrats conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he stated, "It is wrong for our tax code to be discriminatory. And it is wrong for any group of Americans to live in fear of hate crimes. We (Democratic Party) believe that every taxpayer should have the same government services and benefits as any other American." (Source: http://www.365gay.com)
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