Military Group to Sue Government Over DOMA and Benefits for Same-Sex Couples
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is set to file a federal lawsuit arguing that the federal Defense of Marriage Act violates the Fifth Amendment right to due process, and challenging the consitutionality of federal laws that make married same-sex couples ineligible for the same benefits as their straight counterparts, reports Andrea Stone at the HuffPost:
Sarvis, who spoke about his group's plans at the OutServe Armed Forces Leadership summit here over the weekend, said the case would be brought by several currently serving members of the military who were married in the seven jurisdictions where same-sex marriages are legal. He declined to identify the plaintiffs.
"We're looking at all the legal remedies available," Sarvis said, noting that the group also is working to change Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which governs the armed forces and defines marriage as between two individuals of the opposite sex.
Last week, an 18-year Navy veteran made public a case in which she is requesting benefits for her wife. The case is directed at Veterans Affairs "and does not touch upon the compensation of active-duty service members," Stone notes.
The Senate Judiciary last week announced plans to vote on the repeal of DOMA in November.
found lots of interesting information here.
Posted by: webpromo | Oct 17, 2011 9:33:17 AM
This is very interesting. An organization that was formed to fight DADT has now turned it's guns on DOMA. Can't hurt, might help. The more groups challenging the government to defend the discriminatory DOMA the better.
DADT Down, DOMA to go.
Posted by: MikeBoston | Oct 17, 2011 10:20:15 AM
It's staggering that at a time of scant time & resources, that people in gov't can't simply change backward & discriminatory laws w/o all this effort.
Waiting for the day when America can hold its head high as a defender of equality.
Posted by: Pete n SFO | Oct 17, 2011 10:51:32 AM
ATTENTION: much of this "information" is misleading or outright wrong.
Unfortunately, the author of the Huffington Post article has repeatedly failed to choose her own words carefully enough that even when she does mention exceptions the overall effect is to reinforce the MYTH that ALL gay military partners benefits are banned by DOMA. They are NOT as no less than the Pentagon itself admitted in their pre-repeal "Pentagon Working Group Report" released last November. Apparently, Mr. Sarvis thinks he knows more than the Department of Defense does when there's no evidence of that.
In short, DOMA is only relevant when ELIGIBILITY for a benefit is in a regulation written BY CONGRESS that includes the word "spouse" or "married/marriage." Even if the terms are in a regulation simply WRITTEN by the Pentagon itself, THEY could simply rewrite them. BUT, as the Pentagon admitted, the regulation about the extremely important "married family housing," commony referred to as "base housing" was NOT. Eligibility terms are SOLELY at the discretion of the Pentagon, and they COULD change them with a stroke of the proverbial pen if they wanted. THEY even explained HOW they could do that:
"For benefits such as these, the Department of Defense COULD [emphasis theirs] legally direct the Services to revise their regulations to extend coverage to Service members’ same-sex partners. This could be accomplished in two ways: leave to the Service member the freedom to designate his or her ‘dependents’, ‘family members’, or similar term; or, revise these definitions to specifically mention a committed, same-sex relationship, and require some type of proof of that committed relationship. The latter is similar to the approach now being taken in Federal agencies for civilian employees."
HOWEVER, they immediately added that they don't WANT to do that, using the ridiculous and transparent excuses that it would be "unfair" to unmarried straight couples who want to live in base housing, would given the impression that gays were getting "special treatment," and would be complicated to administer, etc., blah blah blah.
IT IS NOTHING BUT PLAIN OLD BIGOTRY. 1. NOT WANTING TO TREAT GAY RELATIONSHIPS AS EQUAL. 2. FEAR OF STRAIGHT COUPLES' KIDS BEING EXPLOSED TO GAY COUPLES AND THEIR KIDS.
However much we must continue to advocate for DOMA repeal, no sane person believes it’s within sight. But extension of vital gay military partner benefits NOT banned by DOMA is doable without action by Congress, and it is crucial that everyone understand why and how.
If President Obama genuinely wants gay couples to have all the rights of straight couples then, as Commander-in-Chief, he can simply and legally order them to extend ALL benefits to gay couples which are not banned by DOMA.
Posted by: Michael Bedwell | Oct 17, 2011 1:08:03 PM