Why Social Security is an LGBTQ+ right

If you grow old with your partner, and they pass away before you do, you’d continue to receive their Social Security benefits. These are called survivor’s benefits, and about 4 million Americans receive them, with the average payout being around $1,500 a month.

For a long time, though, queer people in same-sex marriages and civil unions weren’t eligible for this money, which is fucked up. It was only in 2013, in United States v. Windsor, that inheritances and Social Security survivor’s benefits began to include couples in same-sex partnerships. Later district cases, like 2020’s Thornton v. Saul, found that queer widows who should have received survivor’s benefits but didn’t due to then-discriminatory laws can claim the back pay (Thornton was a class-action lawsuit, so if this happened to you or someone you know, information on how to join the class is here).

Social Security is that thing your granny complained about when her monthly check hadn’t yet arrived in the mail. It’s that extra tax that nips a few extra dollars from your twice-a-month employee paycheck (and does so with enough charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to get its own box on your W-2 tax form). The bigger picture is that Social Security is a program that creates financial stability for millions, and in today’s shifting politics, its future feels uncertain.

Since queer elders are more likely to financially struggle than their straight counterparts, programs like Social Security help many of them live their lives with dignity. They’re also twice as likely to be single and living alone, and four times as likely to not have children, according to SAGE, an advocacy and services organization for LGBTQ+ elders. Social Security is often a lifeline for retirees, grieving family members, and people with disabilities, which is why you should keep an eye on the Trump administration’s efforts to change it.

Queer or not, Americans depend on Social Security income, uh, a lot. One analysis found that, for half of the 65 million people who receive benefits, this money accounts for at least half their monthly income. For one in five, it was 90 percent or more of their income. This is because a lot of people can’t or won’t save enough money to retire, and retirement in this country is becoming more difficult to reach. As such, Social Security is a way to help those in need; it is evidence of a civilized society.

Now, the system isn’t perfect. The most recent efforts to downsize Social Security position the cuts as a way to reduce fraud, and yes, there is some fraud. Fraud often means identity theft, but could also mean things like faking a disability or not reporting a loved one’s death to keep the checks flowing. But it doesn’t mean vampire conspiracies (and yes, that tweet, or whatever we call ‘em these days, was real).

There’s also the fact that you pay into Social Security all your life, but don’t get to glean the benefits of doing so until much, much later (you can make a profile on SSA.gov for free if you want to see your progress for planning purposes). And then there’s insolvency, the ongoing fear that eventually more money from Social Security will pay out than come in and the whole thing will go belly-up.

Anti-billionaire discourse is quite trendy these days, so let me also mention that taxing billionaires even a wee bit would solve a lot of these shortfalls. Social Security never forecasted that this much of America’s wealth would be disproportionately held by the top one percent. Since Social Security tax is only applied to the first $176,100 of earnings annually, the super-rich who made eleventy-million dollars last year (*brings pinky to lip and makes pouty Dr. Evil face*) pay very little compared to what they earn.

My goal as a writer is to help queer people live better lives by learning about personal finance. One aspect of this is understanding the basics of things like Social Security so that when they dominate news headlines, you feel informed on what’s going on rather than overwhelmed. This helps you not only plan for your future, but also be more socially and politically engaged in the present. When we help protect queer elders and other vulnerable populations, we tap back into empathy and keep our culture alive.

Nick Wolny is Out magazine’s finance columnist. He writes Financialicious, a personal finance newsletter tailored toward queer readers, and is working on his first book, Money Proud, which releases later this year. NickWolny.com @nickwolny