As part of the “Refuse to Lie” campaign, legally married same-sex couples in North Carolina are jointly filing their state tax returns in North Carolina, despite a directive by the NC Department of Revenue for them to file their taxes as single. The federal government recognizes same-sex marriage but North Carolina continues to ban it.
Kim and Nancy Willow of Buncombe County, NC sent along a short post about why they are participating:
Fourteen years ago, we realized that we could no longer live a lie. After hiding the truth of our lives and our love for too long, we knew we wanted and needed to share our true selves with the world. Looking back, it is easy to see that living in the closet had a negative impact on every aspect of our lives. Fourteen years later, we’re not going back.
On April 4, 2008 in Niagara Falls, Canada, we were legally married and this year, we’re coming out of the tax closet. The federal government recognizes our marriage, but the state of North Carolina is asking us to lie on our tax returns and file as single (lie #1). In order to do that, we would each have to create a false federal single return to populate the North Carolina state return (lie #2), then sign that return stating it is accurate (lie #3). We don’t need more lies in our lives or in this world.
We are married, plain and simple, and we filed our returns as such. Our tax liability as a married couple is different than that of two single people, and we accept this as part of the rights and responsibilities of marriage. We expect our state to accept its responsibility to recognize all marriages and to treat all married couples equally; to stop discriminating and to start treating its people with the dignity and respect they deserve.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rzOsfaOoMY’]
The Refuse to Lie Campaign was launched in 2011 by Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida. The Campaign for Southern Equality has expanded the campaign to North Carolina this tax season, adding a range of tax-based actions that LGBT couples and allies can take to express opposition to North Carolina’s tax policies.
