Gay widower got $90,000 for past discrimination due to Biden administration reforms

President Joe Biden
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Anthony Gonzales was with his partner Mark Johnson for almost 16 years. But they were only married for six months, getting married after their home state of New Mexico legalized marriage equality until Johnson died of rectal cancer.

Gonzales was initially rejected from receiving Social Security survivor benefits when he applied at age 60 – which is the age of eligibility (or 50 if you’re disabled) – because  the couple had not been married for the required nine months. Now he receives $1,800 a month and also got a whopping $90,000 lump sum payment for the years he should have been eligible.

Related: Biden administration allows LGBTQ seniors to get Social Security benefits equally

This past November, the Biden administration announced that LGBTQ widows whose partners passed away before marriage equality was legal are officially eligible for social security survivor benefits.

And LGBTQ survivors are getting paid. A lot. Not only are those eligible able to receive an average of $1,250 per month, but eligible survivors who were previously denied benefits will also receive…

Read full story, and more, from Source: Gay widower got $90,000 for past discrimination due to Biden administration reforms

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