Why it matters: the one left behind

From Philly.com:

....when Marilyn succumbed to ALS in 2005, Diane couldn't sign the death certificate, donate the body to medical research, or collect Social Security......

Six years later - after civil unions became law and the Legislature passed a marriage-equality bill that Gov. Christie promptly vetoed - Diane still can't legally call herself a widow. A Superior Court judge's ruling last week gave gay couples renewed hope, but Diane remains stuck in the financial quicksand that traps the surviving spouse of same-sex unions.

...same-sex survivors are subject to punishing federal estate taxes heterosexual couples don't face.

State-by-state marriage-equality laws are a positive step, but what gay couples deserve is federal recognition. Then and only then, Orman said, O'Donnell could leave her wife "$100 billion and she wouldn't have to pay one penny."

I really believe that the only way the opposition can justify this kind of ill treatment is because they really DO hate us.