Peter's Place

{EAV_BLOG_VER:50d9bce121877b1b} [EDIT 4 June 2011: Please ignore the first line of this post; I'm having to do some technical stuff with which you need not be concerned...] I just faxed the following letter to the management company of the apartment building I've been living in for almost six months now: I write to advise you of an incident that just occurred at my apartment door. Approximately 15 minutes ago at around 2:45 a.m., a woman began banging on my door almost to the point of knocking it down. She complained that I was making too much noise. For the first time since I moved into my apartment XX at XXX, a friend came over to help me unpack. As you are aware, I previously have been unable to unpack because the movers stacked everything from my previous apartment to the point where I was physically unable to move anything, due to my physical handicaps. The woman complained that she’s sick and tired of me sliding things around back and forth and moving things aro...

I just created a petition at  Change.org  to have NYS Senate Bill No. S5416 removed for consideration. Here's the text of the petition. OVERVIEW  New York State Senators Golden  and  Libous  vulgarized the dignity of their offices by introducing hate-based legislation filled with lies and defended their actions to the press by insisting their constituents "don't really give a rat's ass" about social issues. By signing this petition, you will tell Senators Golden and Libous that you firmly insist on their respecting the dignity and purport of their offices, and insist they respect all New Yorkers and treat them with dignity.   New York State Senators Martin Golden and Tom Libous introduced a "Defense of Marriage" bill in the NYS Senate that would prohibit New York State from recognizing same-sex marriages performed out of state. Currently, pursuant to an Executive Order issued by then-governor Patterson, New York State recognizes all legally perf...

The New York Times published an article yesterday (20 May 2011) entitled For Gay Employees, an Equalizer . The article reports on the recent trend by a growing number of businesses across all sectors of "grossing up." Essentially, these businesses are reimbursing gay & lesbian employees for the extra tax they must if they add their partner (or their domestic partner's child(ren)) to their health insurance plan. So, why are some employers creating this special privilege for their gay & lesbian employees--a right their straight employees aren't entitled to? Quite simply, it's because their straight employees aren't penalized with this extra tax burden when they add their spouse to their health insurance coverage. Federal law doesn't deem such health care benefits imputed income and, therefore, does not tax it. There are a few things to consider: First, not every employer offers health benefits to the partners of their gay & lesbian employ...