Three new words related to trans issues are being added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The dictionary’s website said that 640 words are being added this month, including “gender nonconforming,” “top surgery” and “bottom surgery.”
Gender nonconforming is defined as “exhibiting behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits that do not correspond with the traits typically associated with one’s sex: having a gender expression that does not conform to gender norms.”
The entry says that the first known use of the term was in 1991 and quotes a 2015 Boston Globe article to show the word in context.
The three new trans words in the dictionary
Gender nonconforming: exhibiting behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits that do not correspond with the traits typically associated with one’s sex.
Bottom surgery: a type of gender confirmation surgery in which a person’s genitalia are altered to match their gender identity.
The article explains top surgery is defined as “a type of gender confirmation surgery in which a person’s breasts are removed or augmented to match their gender identity” and bottom surgery is “a type of gender confirmation surgery in which a person’s genitalia are altered to match their gender identity.”
According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of “top surgery,” was in 1992, while “bottom surgery” first appeared in 1994.
Janelle Monáe was cited as the main reason why pansexual was such a popular word this year (Emma McIntyre/Getty)
Merriam-Webster frequently highlights words involving the LGBT+ community.
In 2018 the word pansexual made it onto Merriam-Webster’s list of words of the year.
The US dictionary company explained that the sexual orientation‘s rise to prominence, which sees it ranked third after “Justice” and “Nationalism”—both of which relate heavily to Donald Trump—is largely down to performer Janelle Monáe.
A new study revealed transgender, non-binary and genderqueer students are at higher risk for sexual assault if they attend a school with bathroom restrictions.
Researchers looked at data from the LGBTQ Teen Study, an anonymous web survey of US kids ages 13 to 17. The survey contains information from 3,673 teenagers in the country. They published their findings in the journal Pediatrics on Monday (6 May).
When looking at the respondents as a whole, 1 in 4 (25.9%) described themselves as victims of sexual assault in the last 12 months.
For non-cisgender LGBTI students, this rate was significantly higher. Nearly 4 in 10 (36%) of these students who attend schools with bathroom restrictions said they were sexually assaulted.
Researchers defined bathroom restrictions as an environment where teachers or staff have informed students they cannot use the restroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity.
When politics turn violent
The debate about bathroom access became a nationwide conversation in 2016.
That year, the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education released guidance together that institutions must treat a person’s gender identity as their sex, thereby protecting it under Title IX.
That same year, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student suing a Virginia school district after his school refused to let him use the bathroom corresponding to his gender identity.
Unfortunately, while the Obama administration officially supported Grimm, the Trump administration revoked support for transgender students. The Supreme Court then reversed its decision to hear the case.
North Carolina then continued the debate in a big way when they passed House Bill 2 in 2016. Though it was then replaced with another restrictive bill in 2017, a federal judge last year ruled this second law does not prohibit trans people from using the restroom corresponding to their gender identity.
An ‘indicator’ of dangerous environments
‘Unfortunately, kids’ access to restrooms and locker rooms has become very politicized in some communities,’ said Gabriel Murchison.
Murchison is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and lead author of this new study.
The study, Murchison clarified, does not state the restrictive bathroom rules are the reason for the increase in sexual assault cases, but that there is a connection.
‘They are certainly a strong indicator of environments where kids are at risk,’ he said.
He also explained that the discussion becoming a nationwide debate has put non-cisgender students in the spotlight. This could also partly explain the increase.
On the count of three, about 50 gay couples kissed their partners in the public square of a small town in the Ozark Mountains.
Jay Wilks, the event’s organizer, told the crowd to do it over.
“With more passion this time!” he shouted into the microphone.
Wilks counted down again, and queer and trans people embraced their partners, now with the gusto he demanded. The couples, decked out in so much pride gear that despite the day’s clear weather rainbows abounded, held each other, laughed and, most important, kissed.
It was PDA in the Park, the signature event of early April’s Spring Diversity Weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Eureka is a rural, hilly town of about 2,000 people where locals say over 30 percent of residents are LGBTQ and playfully remark their town has “no straight streets.”
Amber Clark, 36, who has rainbow-dyed hair, drove in for the weekend from Carthage, Missouri, a city of less than 15,000 where you’d be hard-pressed to find 100 queer people making out in the small downtown. She came with what she characterized as “a group of loud, out, queer women.”
“We’re here to be normal for a weekend,” she said, “and to kiss in the park.”
About 2.9 to 3.8 million LGBTQ people live in rural America, and they are increasingly finding that they don’t need to travel to a big city or the coasts to find a place to be themselves and unwind on vacation.
Public imagination renders LGBTQ people as city dwellers, and the dominant narrative says anyone queer or trans living in rural America yearns for escape. There is some truth in that, and for good reason — a recent survey found that Arkansas residents were the least supportive of measures to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, compared to residents of other states. But in Eureka Springs, Wilks, who runs Out in Eureka, an LGBTQ event and information organization, is working to create what he sees as an oasis: a space for LGBTQ people to explore a quaint Southern town while being welcomed exactly as they are.
Other cities and towns in red states have also begun courting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer tourists, as a way of showing their openness and because there’s money to be made. (It’s difficult to determine the economic impact of LGBTQ travelers, but by using population data, the United Nations World Tourism Association estimates they generate more than $50 billion in annual revenue in the U.S.)
Performers and attendees at Diversity Weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.Ludwig Hurtado / NBC News
Salt Lake City is so dedicated to making sure people know it’s LGBTQ-friendly that it has an explainer on its tourism website that begins, “Yes, Salt Lake IS a great place for the LGBTQ Community.”
Oklahoma City tries to entice LGBTQ tourists with its annual Memorial Day gay rodeo and its small but thriving gayborhood.
Forty miles southwest of Eureka Springs, Fayetteville is on a similar mission, trying to appeal to LGBTQ people in Arkansas and neighboring states, for whom going on vacation to a major city is cost prohibitive — or not at all desirable. People who are rural and queer, or Southern and queer, often feel like they need to give up one of those identities, but city leaders in Fayetteville and Eureka Springs are marketing their towns as a place where visitors and residents alike can have it all, even if the state’s politics are not as progressive.
“Our focus is not to become a San Francisco or a Fort Lauderdale,” Wilks, 51, a former flight attendant, said. “Fire Island is fun,” he added of the gay destination east of New York City, but Wilks wants to remain “true to who Eureka is” — a small town that’s wooded, Southern and super gay.
‘DO THEY REALLY WANT US HERE?’
Fayetteville recently became the first city in Arkansas to join the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, which provides free resources, travel suggestions and safety tips to LGBTQ travelers. The city of about 85,000 has always had a reputation for being progressive, especially within its own state, partly because it’s a college town that votes blue. Since 2014, Fayetteville fought to get an LGBTQ nondiscrimination law on its books, but the state supreme court struck it down in January.
That put Molly Rawn, executive director of Experience Fayetteville, the city’s tourism office, in a bit of a bind. How do you convince LGBTQ people to come to your city, which prides itself on inclusivity, when the state sends a different message?
One way Rawn does it is by being clear in her message to LGBTQ folks: “We want you here,” she said.
A Pride participant in Fayetteville in 2018.Courtesy Vincent Griffin
Experience Fayetteville takes out ads in gay newspapers in nearby cities and neighboring states touting its attractions and making sure queer and trans folks know they can visit without worry.
“In my experience, you only have to get them here once, and then they come back,” Rawn said. A lifelong Arkansan, she knows she’s fighting an uphill battle — while she loves the state, she acknowledges that it isn’t always a great place to be LGBTQ, with a lack of workplace discrimination protections and scant health care for trans people.
Still, Fayetteville Pride, the biggest gay event of the year, has flourished, drawing visitors from all over the region. The first parade in 2005 drew about 200 attendees; last year, it had over 15,000.
John Tanzella, president and CEO of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, was thrilled when Fayetteville wanted to be promoted by his organization. But some travel writers and tourists wrote to his organization and asked: “Is it really somewhere welcoming?” and “Do they really want us there?”
His answer: “Yes.”
Tanzella said that in recent years, gay tourism has “evolved from a one-size-fits model to all these different niches.” No longer just cruises and bed-and-breakfasts in Provincetown, Massachusetts, LGBTQ tourism has grown as diverse as the community itself. One of those niches is LGBTQ people who live in the South or the Midwest, and aren’t itching for big city life — they just want a place to be themselves.
Still, the impulse to court LGBTQ tourists doesn’t sit well with everyone.
Brody Parrish, a queer, trans and nonbinary Fayetteville resident, said the effort to draw LGBTQ visitors feels like a “misappropriation of resources.”
Parrish believes Northwest Arkansas should focus on allocating resources to its LGBTQ residents by increasing health care access and opening spaces like community drop-in centers were queer and trans people can congregate. Progressive cities like Fayetteville should “really be putting in the work to make it a safe space for everyone to exist here.”
“I would love to meet random LGBT people that come to this area to visit,” Parrish added, but at the same time, “What are you doing to support those people that are in your town, versus trying to bring people from other areas?”
‘IT FEELS LIKE HOME’
Melodye Purdy moved to Eureka Springs about 15 years ago from Memphis, Tennessee. She and her partner chose Eureka mostly because “there is no other place on Earth like it.”
“Being a woman and being a lesbian, it was very important to find a sense of security and safety,” Purdy, 53, said. Some “gay-friendly” places she and her partner considered seemed to cater only to men, while others, like Key West and Provincetown, felt too far from her home in the South. “I did think that I had to leave the South to be a lesbian,” she said. But in Eureka, among the curvy streets, she found home. “I was wrong.”
Melodye PurdyLudwig Hurtado / NBC News
Eureka’s reputation as an LGBTQ haven isn’t new — at least for Northwest Arkansas residents. It started as a hippie town in the ’70s, and slowly, queer and trans people began moving there. The picturesque town features old saloons with rainbow flags, a haunted hotel, and dozens of other gay-owned shops, restaurants and businesses. Every bar in Eureka, residents like to say, is a gay bar.
Ashley Buckmaster, 36, makes the two-hour drive from her home in Carthage, Missouri, to Eureka Springs a couple times a year. “It’s not scary to go places here,” Buckmaster, who is queer, said at Diversity Weekend. On her visits, she’s met and made lifelong friends. “It feels like home.”
That is exactly why Wilks organizes Diversity Weekend.
“With the cost of travelling to some of the major cities, it’s not something that everyone can just up and do,” he said. “Gay affluence” is a largely a myth, and transgender people often face structural hurdles to finding work and housing. Eureka, Wilks and others hope, can provide an affordable and safe refuge.
‘WE’RE MOVING’
Preparing for his first trip to Eureka Springs a year ago, Ethan Avanzino, 30, said he took out a lot of cash.
“My initial thought of Arkansas was like: ‘Do they take credit cards? Can we barter?’” Avanzino, a gay trans man who grew up on the West Coast and currently lives in Dallas, said. He’s been back four times since then, making the six-to-seven-hour drive with his husband.
On Diversity Weekend this April, he returned to enjoy the festivities and to lead a “Transgender 101” workshop for visitors and community members.
Ethan AvanzinoLudwig Hurtado / NBC News
In the town’s public library, people asked Avanzino about they/them pronouns, what it means to be intersex and how best to support the trans people in their lives. Outside the library window, if you looked east, you could see a 66-foot white statue of Jesus called “Christ of the Ozarks” towering over the hills.
In Dallas, Avanzino is out and does media production for a Fortune 500 company; things are pretty good. But there’s something about Eureka that he feels like he can’t get elsewhere. “The inclusivity in the South is what captured me,” he said. “I like to disconnect and be out in the middle of the wilderness and not have cell reception.”
Transgender adults may be more likely to have unhealthy habits and medical issues that negatively impact their quality of life than people whose gender identity matches what it says on their birth certificates, a U.S. study suggests.
Researchers examined survey data from 3,075 transgender adults as well as 719,567 adults who are cisgender, meaning their gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
Compared to cisgender Americans, transgender individuals were more likely to be sedentary, current smokers, and uninsured, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Transgender people were also 30 percent more likely to report being in “fair” or “poor” health over the past month than cisgender adults, as well as 66 percent more likely to report experiencing severe mental distress.
“The U.S. has made a lot of progress over the last several years toward acceptance and celebration of natural human diversity in gender identity and expression,” study author Kellan Baker said by email. But between 2014 and 2017 – the period when the survey was done – attitudes shifted and treatment of transgender often got worse, said Baker, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
“This study shows that being a transgender person in the U.S. today – being transgender in a society that you know doesn’t fully accept you – is hard,” Baker added. “It affects your health in negative ways, and that’s why issues such as nondiscrimination protections for transgender people are public health issues.”
An estimated 0.55 percent of the people in the survey identified as transgender, which suggests there may be about 1.27 million transgender adults in the U.S.
Survey participants were asked if they considered themselves transgender and were given four options to categorize their identities: trans male (people who identify as male but were assigned female at birth); trans female (individuals who identify as female but were assigned male at birth); gender non-conforming; or not transgender.
Overall, about 19 percent of transgender respondents were current smokers, compared with roughly 16 percent of cisgender people.
About 35 percent of transgender individuals were inactive, compared with nearly 26 percent of cisgender adults.
And, almost 80 percent of transgender participants had health insurance, compared with 85 percent of other people in the study.
Transgender adults also reported more days in the previous month when they felt physically and mentally unhealthy or felt unable to do all of their usual daily activities.
The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how gender identity might directly impact health. Another limitation is that researchers lacked data on how differences within the transgender population such as gender, race and sexual orientation might influence the results.
“I think the take-home message for transgender adults here is clear, which is that transgender adults face additional mental and physical health disparities when compared to cisgender individuals,” said Xiang Cai, a researcher at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.
Cai attributes the higher risks for poor health in trans people to “multiple levels of transgender-specific stigmas.”
“However, I think it is important to note that adults in the transgender community are capable and resilient,” Cai said by email.
The study also didn’t look at whether transgender individuals had gender-affirming surgery or were able to make their outward appearance match their gender identity, Cai said.
“Gender-affirmation treatments may be associated with higher levels of quality of life among those who desire them regardless of age,” Cai noted.
Marriott International, among many big corporations, has gone on record in support of the LGBTQ community. Its CEO, Arne Sorenson, has been one of the most vocal defenders of LGBTQ rights in recent years as corporations have been pulled more squarely into divisive social and legal battles related to LGBTQ discrimination.
But now Marriott is among the corporations facing backlash over an event that will honor Brazil’s new and controversial president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has a history of homophobic comments. He also has made incendiary comments about gender, indigenous groups and torture.
The Marriott Marquis in New York City will be hosting the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce 2019 Person of the Year Award Gala Dinner, honoring Bolsonaro. The event attracted major corporate sponsors, including Delta Air Lines, UnitedHealth Group, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.
Additional sponsors include HSBC, Citigroup, JPMorgan, UBSand Bank of New York Mellon, Santander, BNP Paribas and Forbes’ local licensee Forbes Brasil, whose publisher said it has been a media sponsor of the event for five years and will continue to sponsor it to strengthen ties between Brazil and the U.S.
Bain & Co. pulled out of event sponsorship on Tuesday, as did the Financial Times. Delta told CNBC on Tuesday afternoon that it had pulled out of event sponsorship.
Bolsonaro is reportedly receiving the reward for his prioritizing of Christian values and family. He’s been president of Brazil since January and has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, homosexuality and abortion. According to the New York Times, which cataloged some of his controversial comments, Bolsonaro said he would “rather have a son who is an addict than a son who is gay” and that he was “proud to be homophobic.”
The event has been a magnet for controversy — the Marriott Marquis is not its first choice of location. It was originally planned to take place at The American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Ocean Life. Yet pressure from environmental and LGBTQ groups resulted in the museum’s withdrawal.
Marriott’s Sorenson was among the first CEO “activist” leaders when he took on Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in 2014 over legislation perceived as discriminatory. Brewer vetoed the legislation. Sorenson also said at the time of the 2017 battle over the North Carolina bathroom bill perceived as discriminating against LGBTQ rights, “I have personally received hundreds of emails in the last week complaining about the position I have taken with respect to the law in North Carolina. I think the way the law was passed was trying to drive a wedge between people who think and believe different things, as opposed to building a bridge. We end up creating a polarized and exclusionary environment with laws like that,” he told CNBC.
When North Carolina’s bathroom bill became a focal point for corporate social activism, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America spoke out, with its CEO Brian Moynihan telling shareholders, “We’ve been steadfast in our commitment [against] discrimination. We have been a leader in LGBT practices since the [19]90s.”
Delta has spoken out against anti-LGBTQ legislation — often referred to by backers as “religious freedom” bills — in recent years, including bills introduced in its home state of Georgia. The airlines’ decision to end discounts to NRA members, another hot-button social issue for corporations, led the state legislature to even attempt to punish the airline by removing a tax break.
MARRIOTT, CREDIT SUISSE DEFEND DECISION
Marriott is sticking by its decision to host the event for Bolsonaro.
“Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of our hotel’s culture and operations. We have welcomed all for over 90 years and focused on putting people first. We are required by law to accept business even if it conflicts with our values,” said a Marriott spokesperson to CNBC. “Acceptance of business does not indicate support, or endorsement of any group or individual.”
Openly gay New York State Senator Brad Hoylman told the Daily News “The only award President Bolsonaro should be receiving is bigot of the year. [It is] incredibly offensive that a business in my Senate district, which has a large LGBTQ population, would host a man who once said he’d rather have a dead son than a gay man.”
“It’s imperative that the companies and organizations associated with this event first understand the egregious anti-LGBTQ record and rhetoric of the Brazilian President and then stand by LGBTQ people in Brazil and everywhere by withdrawing their support,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD to CNBC. “His brand of anti-LGBTQ activism is actively [hurting] LGBTQ Brazilians and companies that host or participate in this celebration of him need to take a stand.”
A spokesperson for Credit Suisse, one of the event sponsors, said the bank, “like other major banks who operate in Brazil, has taken a table at this year’s event, as we have for the past 15 years.”
Representatives for UnitedHealth, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan, UBS, Bank of New York Mellon and Forbes could not provide a comment by press time.
National Guard leaders in five states have decided to defy the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender troops in the military. The states of California, New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington are refusing to discharge their trans soldiers in the National Guard.T
Two months ago, the assistant adjunct general for the California National Guard announced they would not be dismissing trans troops.
‘Nobody’s going to kick you out,’ Major General Matthew Beevers said at the time.
Now, four more states are following suit. The governors of New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington have decided to retain their transgender soldiers.
Each of the 50 states have their own National Guard units, primarily under the governor’s control. Because of this, many governors have been emboldened by this chain of command to defy Trump’s discriminatory policy.
New Mexico
‘We are not going to discharge any transgender individual from serving in our state National Guard, nor would this state ever discriminate against someone based on their gender identity,’ a spokesperson for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
Nevada
‘The State of Nevada does not discriminate against anyone, including and especially servicemembers, based on gender identity or expression,’ Helen Kalla, communications director for Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, told The Daily Beast.
Oregon
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown told The Daily Beast she’s ‘appalled that the Supreme Court is delivering an intentional blow to civil rights by supporting a push from the Trump Administration to bar transgender people from serving in the military.’
‘I will use every option available to ensure that every eligible Oregonian, regardless of gender identity, can serve their state and country,’ Gov. Brown stated.
Washington
In Washington State, a spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee told The Daily Beast that they stand ‘in solidarity with transgender Americans across the country in opposing this policy and won’t stop fighting until it is defeated.’
‘Until then, we will continue to welcome transgender service members to the greatest extent possible under the rules,’ the spokesperson continued. ‘It’s our understanding that is what New Mexico is doing as well.’
Anti-gay preacher James David Manning faces abuse allegations
The preacher is under scrutiny after an investigation by Huffington Post revealedallegations of abuse at the private fundamentalist school attached to the church, also run by Manning.
One former ATLAH High School student, Tamar, alleged that Manning had sexually harassed her and touching her inappropriately.
Aged 18, Tamar secretly recorded a conversation with Manning in which the preacher makes sexual comments and states he had feelings for her when she started at the school.
He says: “You got an incredible body… In fact, like on Wednesday night you came, and you had on a black blouse and black stockings and a gray or something skirt. All I could think about was, ‘Wow, I sure would like to remove those stockings and that blouse,’ and just look at your body.”
James David Manning at ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem
Another former student told the outlet that he was locked in a basement for three days by Manning as a punishment for having sex with a girl.
Other students said that homophobia was rife at the school, with Manning frequently railing against evil “faggots.” Others likened Manning’s grip over Atlah congregants to a cult leader.
Four attendees at Atlah church also alleged that Manning encouraged them to “defecate in a bag and leave it at gay-owned businesses.”
The private religious school has been operating for years despite its “registration pending” status with New York state.
A spokesperson for the New York Department of Education told Huffington Post: “The Department takes all allegations of misconduct against certified educators extremely seriously.”
“[We] would encourage anyone that believes they may have been the victim of misconduct to contact us with the appropriate complaint information.”
Anti-gay preacher blames ‘LGBTQ mafia’ for abuse allegations
Manning did not comment on the allegations.
However, in a Twitter storm he claimed: “THE LGBTQ MAFIA IS SPREADING LIES ATTEMPTING A HIT JOB ON OUR CHURCH. THEY WANT HARLEM TO BE WHITE AND HOMOSEXUAL.
“THEY SAY HATE ALL WHO PREACH AGAINST THEIR SEXUAL RACISM. IT WILL BE A COLD DAY IN HELL BEFORE THEY TAKE ME OR ATLAH CHURCH DOWN.”
He added: The LGBQT have attacked The Lord’s House And The Lord’s Servant.
“This attack will fail like a pervert news reporter boarding a bus with a student math protractor. He will fall on the needle and die the death when I stand and preach The Word.”
Congratulations on your marriage! After spending the last several months on planning, your special day and the honeymoon have come and gone, and now you’re wondering what’s next. Whether you’re planning on buying a home, having a child, or simply enjoying life as a married couple, it should all start with you and your spouse establishing a financial roadmap, which includes assessing paycheck tax withholding and updating financial beneficiaries.
The first step in establishing a roadmap as a married couple involves your taxes, specifically your paycheck withholding taxes. Due in part to the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,” signed into law by President Trump, some have experienced confusion and other unpleasant surprises because of changes to the withholding tables. While I always advise reaching out to a tax professional, here is a quick way to do it yourself:
Step one: Determine if it is best to file your taxes married jointly or married separately. This will depend on how close in salary each spouse makes. There are many ‘marriage calculators’ available to you, but the simplest calculator is hosted by the Tax Policy Center.
Step two: The IRS website offers a withholding calculator that determines how much tax you should actually withhold based on your filing status. It’s important to make sure to account for any dividends/interest and short-term capital gains. The calculator will tell you what filing status, how many withholdings (usually 0 or 1) and if you should request an extra specific dollar amount to be withheld. It’s important to note that the IRS expects you to withhold around 90% of your tax due (although this tax season has been different) or face a penalty. To ensure you’re on the right path, it may be smart to do another check-up around November to make sure you’re on track.
Once you have given the IRS calculator’s recommendations to your employer’s payroll team, you will most likely have a new take home pay amount. From here, you’ll be able to use your new combined take home pay to determine your monthly budget.
As newlyweds, approaching budgeting will be a little different than when you were single. For many people, merging finances after being previously financially independent can cause uneasiness. I recommend creating one family budget – this includes housing, groceries, and, most importantly, joint social expenses (evenings out, travel, etc.). To help manage these expenses create a joint cash and credit account, so both partners can see how the family budget is doing. Split the total expected expense in an amount that seems fair relative to each spouse’s income. Many payroll departments allow you to deposit a portion of income into more than one bank account, which makes things a lot simpler.
The balance of your paycheck remains yours to spend or save – and hopefully surprise your spouse with something nice every once and awhile. Overtime, many couples further consolidate their finances, but the above is a good way to begin your life together.
Finally, don’t forget to compare your respective employee benefit plans. Update any beneficiary information on your retirement plans (don’t stop maxing out those contributions!) and determine who has the best health coverage. Do not just look at the per paycheck cost, but rather weigh the different deductibles, health network type (HMO, PPO, etc.), and total coverage. I won’t lie – it can be very confusing, but your human resources representative or current insurance carrier’s customer service are highly trained in describing each policy’s features.
Just remember, financial planning at the start of your marriage will ensure a strong foundation for the future.
(Information contained herein is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or recommendations. Advice may only be provided after entering into an advisory agreement with an Advisor.)
Financial services firm JPMorgan Chase has banned staff from booking into Brunei-owned hotels after the country introduced death by stoning for gay people.
A senior manager at JPMorgan told the newspaper the company had issued a notice on its internal booking system but had “not said anything publicly.”
The company’s decision follows a similar move by Deutsche Bank, who announced the removal of the Dorchester Collection hotel group from its list of suppliers on April 4.
The Dorchester Hotel in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles are among the high-profile hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
Actor and activist George Clooney led calls for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels late last month when news broke that the small southeast Asian country—which has a population of just 400,000 people—was introducing death by stoning for gay people.
In an op-ed for Deadline, Clooney wrote: “Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.”
“Brunei is a Monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?”
His call for a boycott was later supported by celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John.
In the letter, they claimed that executions of gay people will be rare, and said “there appears to be a misconception” about the penal code.
“The criminalisation of adultery and sodomy is to safeguard the sanctity of family lineage and marriage of individual Muslims, particularly women.”
– Brunei letter to the European Union
The letter claims: “The criminalisation of adultery and sodomy is to safeguard the sanctity of family lineage and marriage of individual Muslims, particularly women.
The Sultan of Brunei, who introduced death by stoning for gay people earlier this month (AFP/Getty)
“The offences, therefore will not apply to non-Muslims unless the act of adultery or sodomy is committed with a Muslim.”
It adds that the death penalty has an “extremely high evidentiary threshold (…) to the extent that convictions may solely rest on confessions of the offender.”
MEPs UNimpressed with the letter
The letter did not assuage the concerns of MEPs who voted in favour of a resolution strongly condemning the Sultan of Brunei for human rights violations.
MEP Marietje Schaake said: “The ferocious corporal punishments that have been introduced in Brunei, like punishing gay sex with death by stoning, are repugnant and go against all international human rights legislation.
“Capital punishment could even be imposed on children. We, as Europe, have to respond unitedly.”
The resolution threatens Europe-wide sanctions against Brunei over the law.
A new campaign has launched, calling on the Church of England to end its ban on same-sex weddings.
The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England launched on Friday (April 12), seeking an end to rules that ban same-sex weddings in Church parishes, and an end to rules that target gay vicars for getting married.
The campaign, led by several members of the clergy, launches exactly five years after hospital chaplain Jeremy Pemberton defied the Church’s rules to marry his same-sex partner, which led to the removal of his permission to officiate.
Church of England clergy: It is time to embrace same-sex marriage
Revd Andrew Foreshew-Cain, said: “We congratulate Jeremy and Laurence on their wedding anniversary, and rejoice with the many same-gender couples who have made lifelong, faithful commitments to each other in marriage in recent years.
“The Church of England has spent too many years saying it is sorry for the way that it treats LGBT+ people, whilst continuing its own injustice towards us in marriage and ministry. It is time for what is done to match what is said.”
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (Dan Kitwood/Getty)
Revd Canon Rosie Harper, member of church’s General Synod, added: “Marriage ‘enriches society and strengthens community’, as the C of E wedding service says, and the Church should be open to all loving couples who want to make that commitment, regardless of their sexuality.
“I welcome this campaign and look for the day when I can welcome gay and lesbian couples to my church for their wedding day.”
Revd Dr Nicholas Bundock, of St James and Emmanuel, Didsbury, added: “It is time for the Church of England to start to heal the hurt and pain it has caused to LGBT+ people and to welcome and bless their faithful, loving relationships in church.
“Marriage is a gift of God to all people.”
Gay Church of England weddings would require change in UK law
Permitting same-sex marriage in Church of England parishes would require a change in the law, as the 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act explicitly barred the Church of England and the Church in Wales from conducting same-sex marriages as part of a ‘quadruple lock’ to appease religious opponents of same-sex marriage.
Several other churches within the Anglican Communion, including the US Episcopal Church and the Scottish Episcopal Church, have embraced same-sex unions, while the Anglican Church of Canada is also in the process of making reforms.
However, the Church of England has been more resistant to change.
