You are here: Home » Featured » Will Gay Military Spouses Receive Benefits After Repeal?

Will Gay Military Spouses Receive Benefits After Repeal?

3/11/10- By Isabell James

The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) debate is heating up and individuals like myself have sparked a controversial question.  Will the legal spouses of gay service members be offered the same benefits as their straight counterparts?   A leading gay marriage activist is speaking out in our defense.

“Gay people serving in the military, defending our country, should have the same rules and same opportunities as any other Americans, no more and no less,” Evan Wolfson, founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, told The Washington Times yesterday. “The irony is that if gay people were saying we should have a special right not to serve, the anti-gay groups would be clamoring to force gay people into the military,” Mr. Wolfson said in a statement. “There is no good reason for denying gay Americans either the ability and duty to serve our country or the freedom to marry, with the same rules, same responsibilities, and same respect as any other committed couples.”

My partner, Jo, and I are not yet married.  Because of DADT, we fear having any legal record of our love.  When (I suppose to be accurate, I should say if) Congress repeals the military gay ban, we will certainly become wife and wife without hesitation.  Unfortunately, our legal union may still go unrecognized by the military.

Currently, five states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage.  However, a little thing called the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) may stand in the way of the military recognizing these unions. DOMA defines the union of marriage as strictly between man and woman.

Haven’t we invisible spouses dealt with denial long enough?  DOMA could potentially prevent the Defense Department from extending Jo’s spousal benefits to me.   And what happens if I carry our child? What if she gets deployed overseas? Under DOMA they could continue to deny gay spouses medical care, on-base housing and schooling.

Austin R. Nimocks, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, told The Washington Times,  “It’s most likely under the current scenario that the military would follow DOMA because the marriage license held by a same-sex couple is a state-conferred right and not a federal-conferred right. And so there is no requirement that the federal government acknowledge that state-conferred right in that regard. I think that federal DOMA would necessarily constrict the ability of the military to provide some sort of recognition to a marriage license held by a same-sex couple.”

Army Gen. Ham and Pentagon General Counsel Johnson lead the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell task force.  They have been instructed by Defense Secretary Gates to “determine appropriate changes to existing policies and regulations” including “benefits.” In a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing, Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, questioned Mr. Johnson and Gen. Ham about DOMA.  He indicated repeal of DOMA might be necessary so the repeal of DADT “does not create disparities between the benefits of legally married couples, regardless of their orientation.” Mr. Johnson indicated that the task force would explore the issue.

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California, asked Secretary Gates if he will recommend that Congress repeal DOMA to avoid “disparities in the military between legally married heterosexual couples and legally married gay couples.”

A spokesman for Gates declined to comment.

Secretary Gates, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your positive work with DADT repeal. But simply allowing my ‘wife’ to serve openly is not enough. We, the invisible spouses, are not addressing service members’ freedom to be out.  Our loved ones should also be allowed to care and provide for their families, just like all of the other men and women who fight so hard for our country.