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Recognizing LGBT History Month

October 17, 2016 • By

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Last Updated: August 19, 2021

lgbt-historySocial Security is committed to treating all Americans fairly. This commitment extends to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people covered by Social Security’s many programs.

October is also National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) History Month. It’s a month-long annual observance of the history of the gay rights movement. First observed in 1994 to coincide with National Coming Out Day, the month has evolved to include a more diverse range of people identifying as LGBT.

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, holding that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in all states and have their marriages recognized in all states. This decision made it possible for more same-sex couples and their families to benefit from Social Security.

We now recognize same-sex couples’ marriages in all states, and some non-marital legal relationships, for purposes of determining entitlement to Social Security benefits, Medicare entitlement, and eligibility and payment amount for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). We also recognize same-sex marriages and some non-marital legal relationships established in foreign jurisdictions for purposes of determining entitlement to Social Security benefits, Medicare entitlement, and SSI eligibility.

We encourage anyone who is unsure whether they are entitled or eligible for Social Security to apply right away for benefits. Applying now will protect against the loss of any potential benefits.

If you have any questions about how to apply for benefits, call toll-free 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). We can answer specific questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Generally, you’ll have a shorter wait time if you call during the week after Tuesday. We treat all calls confidentially.

Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/people/same-sexcouples to apply for benefits and learn more about our policies for same-sex couples.

 

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About the Author

Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Communications

Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Communications

Comments

  1. Shayne

    I’ve read some good stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to make such a excellent informative website.

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  2. Sam B.

    Do they have a month for straight couples?

  3. Amato

    Dont you have a better decent way to spend our taxpayers money that pays your salary rather than wasting our money for this absurd nonsense? These people need good mental healthcare not a posting in the social security website.

  4. Thomas T.

    Satan is waiting for all those people.

    • Tammy

      You too

  5. Tony S.

    The government lifted a ban on Medicare coverage for transgender surgery and hormone treatment in 2014, and in 2015 New York State ended a similar ban for Medicaid patients. Apparently the tall XYY people with small testicles, do have internal female organs. Many trans men still have ovaries and vaginas, and trans women, prostate glands and penises. Although testosterone hormone treatment is said to be safe in Europe it is taken with Warfarin in the United States. Warfarin is contraindicated with nearly all necessary medicine and the diagnosis of cancer may be a medically desperate act of metronidazole untreated mastitis or colitis, etc. It is particularly important that people are not contraindicated from taking metronidazole to treat anaerobic infections before submitting to surgery. The payment by CMS for transgender testosterone treatment with Warfarin and cosmetic sex change operations is the crime that jeopardizes all Warfarin prescriptions. Is Warfarin the problem or is the testosterone sex change hormone a limp disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) to the Knife? Transgender people are urged to quit cosmetic hormone therapy that makes them a sick DIC invariably desensitizing them to the Knife to such a degree that they would undergo a penectomy and invagination. Transgender people should be rationally financed by CMS to get medically necessary cancer prevention surgery to remove defective cancer prone internal reproductive organs, when discovered.

  6. Louis b.

    That what wrong the word today .we living in sin.what Jesus die far our sin at calvary. Cross. He did already believe it .that the true Jesus die far our sin at calvary cross ok.lol.

  7. Louis b.

    It what the bible said it a sin. For 2 men &2 women. 2. Married. Read roman first chapter it talk about that.u dont add on to the bible are take. Away from the bible. U believe what it .the word of the living God. It changing not. Ok lol.

  8. Tony S.

    SSA’s monogymous citation of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) seems to be used exclusively to miscommunicate their duty to not rob beneficiaries under King et al v .Burwell (2015). The Supreme Court did not mention SSA by name, nor does gay marriage make any statistically or legally meaningful changes to the social security program. SSA seems be making jokes about the sexual practices of inmates housed in gender segregated prisons, in lieu of going to prison for up to one year for two counts of deprivation of relief benefits 18USC246 for drinking our 3% COLA two years running and robbing beneficiaries to pay for illegal Medicare Part B premium inflation in excess of 2.5%.

    On the topic of homosexuality great care must be taken regarding the financing of expensive and dangerous medicines and surgeries for transgender people. The hormone given to make men develop breasts causes the blood to thicken and requires Coumadin (Warfarin) to thin the blood and like everyone with Warfarin treated coagulopathies they frequently present for surgery. After being desensitized by necessary surgery the transgender and XYY patient is tempted to have their sterile external male genitalia with small testicles surgically removed. Removal of internal males genitalia and extra female reproductive organs from XXY and XXX women has a more sound basis in medicine. Both transgender hormone therapy and sex change operations are contrary to good health and medical necessity.

    That said, pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson was paid to write a book on the Constitution in which he denounced gay marriage and encouraged second amendment militancy. The Human Rights Campaign has investigated John Hopkins. Even after Congress was intellectually stunted by reading Carson’s caselawless study on the Constitution, Carson’s book can be held accountable for inciting the nightclub shooting in Florida that is the largest rampage shooting in US history, but it was SSA who first obsessed the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) citation.

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