Obama Expresses Renewed Support For Federal Domestic Benefits Bill

1/29/10-by Paula Brooks
Yesterday, when asked about his position on equal rights for same sex couples during a town hall meeting in Tampa, President Obama reiterated his support for legislation moving through the House and Senate that extends full domestic benefits to the unmarried partners of gay and lesbian federal employees.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were in Tampa Thursday to announce that Florida would receive $1.25 billion in economic stimulus money to help build a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando and to reconnect to Florida voters who are being hard hit by the current economic downturn.

Responding to a University of Tampa students question about gay rights, Obama said he hopes Congress passes the legislation this year that will give full domestic benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees…

I think that we’ve got to — we actually have an opportunity of passing a law that’s been introduced in Congress right now, and my hope is this year we can get it done, just for federal employees and federal workers. A lot of companies, on their own, some of the best-run companies have adopted these same practices. I think it’s the right thing to do and it makes sense for us to take a leadership role in ensuring that people are treated the same.
Look, if you are — regardless of your personal opinions, the notion that somebody who’s working really hard for 30 years can’t take their death benefits and transfer them to the person that they love the most in the world and who has supported them all their lives, that just doesn’t seem fair. It doesn’t seem right. And I think it’s the right thing to do.

In June, Obama signed a memorandum extending some federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers, however that measure did not cover health care and retirement benefits.

At that time he also voiced his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act, saying he thought, “It’s discriminatory, it interferes with States’ rights, and it’s time we overturned it,” and stated his full support for, The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, a bill by introduced Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) that would extend full partner benefits to gay and lesbian federal employees, giving them same access as employees with different-sex spouses.

However, the Obama Office of Personnel Management last year also ignored a directive by Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski to give spousal benefits to a lesbian court employee and is presently being sued by the LGBT advocacy group Lamda Legal on behalf of that employee.

Versions of Baldwin’s bill have cleared House and Senate committees, but to date, neither has scheduled a vote on the measure.

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