• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

For Now, Social Security Benefits Limited to Same-Sex Couples in Marriage Equality States

August 12, 2013 by Jacob Combs

Enhanced-buzz-14447-1376110665-24

Some big, late-night news this weekend from BuzzFeed's Chris Geidner: new policy guidelines established by the Social Security Adminstration after the Supreme Court's invalidation of the Defense of Marriage Act will limit benefits to only those same-sex couples who live in states with marriage equality. From Geidner's report:

As of Friday, a new section for “Windsor Same-Sex Marriage Claims” — named after the Supreme Court case of United States v. Windsor, which resulted in a part of the Defense of Marriage Act being struck down — was added to the Social Security Administration’s Program Operations Manual System (POMS), which the agency describes as the primary source of information used by Social Security employees to process claims for Social Security benefits.

The claims processing instructions “allow for payment of claims” when the claimant “was married in a state that permits same-sex marriage” and “is domiciled at the time of application, or while the claim is pending a final determination, in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage.”

As Geidner points out, the SSA had announced in a press release earlier late day that it would be making "some" payments to same-sex couples in valid marriages and praised the Supreme Court's ruling as a victory for fairness and equality.

In an update to his post early Saturday morning, Geidner linked to Volokh Conspiracy blogger Will Baude, who hypothesized in his own post on the legal analysis site that the SSA's decision was predicated in part on a specific statute pertaining to marital law as it applies to social security claims:

An applicant is the wife, husband, widow, or widower of a fully or currently insured individual for purposes of this title if the courts of the State in which such insured individual is domiciled at the time such applicant files an application.  [emphasis Baude's]

In response to the Supreme Court's DOMA decision, a majority of federal agencies–such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management–have opted to look to the laws of the state in which a couple was married as opposed to the state of the couple's residence in order to determine marital status. These determinations have taken place largely through executive review alone.

If Baude is correct, however, the SSA's hands may essentially be tied by the statute in question. That would mean any fix for the issue will likely need to be a legislative one.

Filed Under: DOMA, Supreme Court Tagged With: DOMA, gay marriage, gay rights, Law - Gay, LGBT, Social Security, Supreme Court

Recent Posts

  • Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    4 hours ago
  • Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    9 hours ago
  • Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    9 hours ago
  • Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    10 hours ago
Previous Post: « News: Broadway, Justin Bieber, Sears, Lea Michele, ‘Stop-And-Frisk’
Next Post: Chris Munro Wants You To ‘Go’: VIDEO »

Primary Sidebar

  • Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

  • Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

  • Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

Recent Posts

  • Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    4 hours ago
  • Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    9 hours ago
  • Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    9 hours ago
  • Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    10 hours ago
  • 19-Year-Old Gets 28 Years to Life for Brutal Murder of Teen He Feared Would Expose Their Relationship

    19-Year-Old Gets 28 Years to Life for Brutal Murder of Teen He Feared Would Expose Their Relationship

    10 hours ago
  • Citi Says it’s Standing by Golfer Justin Thomas After Anti-Gay Slur, Requiring Him to Donate ‘Meaningful Portion’ of Sponsorship Fee to LGBTQ Orgs

    Citi Says it’s Standing by Golfer Justin Thomas After Anti-Gay Slur, Requiring Him to Donate ‘Meaningful Portion’ of Sponsorship Fee to LGBTQ Orgs

    11 hours ago
  • Nikki Haley Says Violent Insurrection on Capitol, Coup Attempt ‘No Basis’ for Trump Impeachment: ‘At Some Point Give the Man a Break’ — WATCH

    Nikki Haley Says Violent Insurrection on Capitol, Coup Attempt ‘No Basis’ for Trump Impeachment: ‘At Some Point Give the Man a Break’ — WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • Hate Crime Charge Added in Case of Gay Man Stabbed and Strangled into Coma by Grindr ‘Date’

    Hate Crime Charge Added in Case of Gay Man Stabbed and Strangled into Coma by Grindr ‘Date’

    12 hours ago
  • Mitch McConnell Caves on Filibuster Demands, Agrees to Senate Power-Sharing Deal: WATCH

    Mitch McConnell Caves on Filibuster Demands, Agrees to Senate Power-Sharing Deal: WATCH

    12 hours ago
  • MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Permanently Canned from Twitter for Election Conspiracy Theories

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Permanently Canned from Twitter for Election Conspiracy Theories

    13 hours ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in