Group Files Federal Challenge to Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

The plaintiffs: left to right, top top bottom (above): Nancy Gill & Marcelle Letourneau, Melba Abreu & Beatrice Hernandez, Martin (Al ) Koski & Jim Fitzgerald, Keigh & Al Toney, Better Jo Green & Jo Ann Whitehead, Dean Hara, Mary Ritchie & Kathy Bush, Dorene & Mary Bowe-Shulman, Herbert Burtis, Marlin Nabors & Jonathan Knight, Randell Lewis Kendell. Information via GLAD.

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Eight Massachusetts couples and three widowers and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) plan to file suit today challenging provisions in section three of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that deny them access to pensions, health insurance, and other benefits received by married couples.

Although the suit has a narrow focus, Janson Wu, an attorney for GLAD, told Bay Windows that he felt a favorable ruling would deal a "crippling blow to DOMA as a whole.

Bay Windows reports: "If successful the suit would overturn only those specific provisions of DOMA, not the entire statute, which prevents federal recognition of any same-sex marriage and also allows states to deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states."

The plaintiffs include Dean Hara, widower of the late congressman Gerry Studds, Herb Burtis, a 78-year-old voice teacher who lost his partner of 60 years from Parkinson's disease last August and cared for him for the last 16 years of his life yet is denied the full benefits of his partner's Social Security.

Two of the plaintiffs are Mary Ritchie and her spouse Kathleen Bush: "Ritchie, a Massachusetts State Police trooper, has been married for almost five years and has two children. But when she files her federal income tax return, she's not allowed to check the 'married filing jointly' box."

The NYT reports: "Because same-sex marriage is allowed in only two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, the number of spouses who are denied such benefits is fairly small. But Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the group planning to file the federal suit, believes the number will grow as more states consider granting gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. At least eight other states, including New York, are considering same-sex marriage bills. 'In our view, it’s a straightforward equal-protection issue,' said Mary L. Bonauto, civil rights project director for the group, referring to the constitutional mandate that laws be applied equally to everyone."

Said Wu: "Our legal argument is that [the portions of section three targeted in the lawsuit are] a violation of our federal government’s guarantee to treat citizens equally by refusing to recognize the marriages only of same-sex couples, and that principle of equality should apply in other contexts if we’re successful...[The case] certainly can and may reach the Supreme Court level, and we think the Supreme Court is receptive to these fundamental notions of equality and the balance between federal and state governments."

BONUS VIDEO: Janson Wu speaks at about marriage discrimination at a Boston rally in January, AFTER THE JUMP...

CASE OVERVIEW [glad] FAQ [PDF]
Overview of lawsuit [PDF]
GLAD challenges federal DOMA [bay windows]
Married gays in Mass. sue US for federal benefits [ap]
Suit Seeks to Force Government to Extend Benefits to Same-Sex Couples [nyt]

Congressman Gerry Studds Remembered in Boston

Tribute was paid to former Massachusetts congressman Gerry Studds at a memorial service in Boston attended by 300 people including his longtime partner Dean Hara (right) and his colleagues Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy.

Studds, who became the first openly gay member of congress after it was discovered that he was having a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old page, died on October 14th after being hospitalized for a blood clot.

Barney Frank, who came out four years after Studds, made note of the page incident in a speech at the memorial. Said Frank: "The important thing about what Gerry did was the reaction to it. And the reaction to it was that there was no reaction. [Gerry] helped Americans understand that they really aren't homophobic, they just thought they were supposed to be."

While in Congress, Studds fought for gay rights, marriage, and AIDS issues as well as marine protection environmental programs. His post-congressional work as a lobbyist for the fishing industry did not go unnoticed. The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, was named for Studds when he retired from Congress to recognize the work he had done on behalf of marine issues.

Ted Kennedy noted this in his eulogy: "His love for the Cape was obvious to all of us and constantly inspiring. One of his finest achievements was persuading Congress to start paying close attention to the health of our oceans."

The occasion of Studds' death was one of the first times that a governement official's spouse was noted in his obituary as "husband" rather than partner, boyfriend, longtime companion, or friend. However, it also drew attention to the inequities gay people face concerning pension benefits, as Hara, partnered with Studds for 15 years, was unable to receive the federal pension benefits offered to heterosexual spouses of deceased government officials.

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Despite the sad news of Congressman Gerry Studds' death, it was exciting to see his "husband" Dean Hara referred to in mainstream news publications across the nation. For the first time, a government official's same-sex spouse was not referred to as partner, boyfriend, longtime companion, or friend.

But the federal laws have yet to catch up with the laws of Massachusetts, and Studds' death has forced into the open the inequality gay couples face when it comes to marriage benefits. Partnered for 15 years, and married when they were able in 2004, Hara deserves the benefits offered to spouses of other deceased lawmakers, who collect more than half of the pensions earned by their spouses:

"When Studds, 69, died from a vascular illness Saturday, he was receiving an estimated annual pension of $114,337, according to the National Taxpayers Union, which studies federal pensions. Studds was first elected to Congress in 1972 and served until 1997. His district represented Cape Cod and the Islands, New Bedford and the South Shore.

If Hara were a woman and married to Studds -- rather than a same-sex spouse -- he would receive $62,000 a year from Studds' pension program under the congressional retirement system, according to NTU guidelines."

The discrimination is glaring.

And the truly sick part of it is that pension benefits are still offered to congressmen convicted of felonies! Like Bob Ney, who faces up to 10 years in prison for his part in the Abramoff influence-peddling scandal. Ney will still receive $29,000 a year in federal pension for the rest of his life.

Studds' husband will receive nothing. The federal law, defined by the Defense of Marriage Act, signed by Bill Clinton in 1996, trumps all state laws regarding benefits to same-sex spouses. Said Gary Buseck, legal director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders: "We'd been hoping at some point Congress would address the inequities" in the law. There are plenty of people being impacted. But this is the first time right in the congressional family a distinguished member is being treated differently than other members."

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Former U.S. Rep Gerry Studds died early on Saturday. He was 69.

Studds had been admitted to the hospital on October 3rd after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband Dean Hara told the Boston Globe.

Hara said the reason for the hospitalization was a blood clot in Studds' lung.

"[After being hospitalized] Studds regained consciousness and seemed to be improving. He was to be transferred to a rehabilitation center, but his condition deteriorated on Friday because of a second blood clot and he died at about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. Hara, who married Studds shortly after gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004, said doctors were not immediately sure where the second blood clot originated."

Studds represented Cape Cod and the Islands, New Bedford, and the South Shore for 12 terms. In 1983, when a former Congressional page went public with an affair he had with Studds ten years earlier when the page was 17, Studds came out publicly. Studds was censured after defending his relationship with the page as one that was consensual, but survived the scandal.

While in Congress, Studds fought heavily for gay rights, marriage, and AIDS issues and marine protection environmental programs. After retiring in 1997, Studds became a lobbyist for the fishing industry. The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, was named for Studds when he retired from Congress to recognize the work he had done on behalf of marine issues.

Said Hara of his husband, the long-serving congressman: "He gave people of his generation, or my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do."

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