A gay or lesbian service member who is stationed on a
military base in a state where gay marriage is the law
will continue to be denied federal benefits for their
spouse after Sept. 20th when DADT is finally gone.
Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of Servicemembers
Legal Defense Network (SLDN) & a veteran has sent
a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta thanking
him for his commitment to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” (DADT) & calling on him to adopt a policy of
nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation. This
includes making same-gender married couples eligible
for joint duty assignments, family center programs &
military family housing. It would be a start but the
unconstitutional DOMA needs to go the way of DADT
before our LGBT community has a chance of achieving
full equality. Updates to Come....:)
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With the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ there will be two classes of service members in the U.S. military – those who receive the full range of benefits and support and those who don’t. At Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), we fully understand that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents the Department from extending the same support and benefits to all service members. However, Secretary Panetta has the ability, within the confines of the law, to make same-gender married couples and their families eligible to take part in some of the programs that are available to their straight married counterparts.
ReplyDeleteAubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)
Thank you for this story and for bring this inequality to light. FYI – http://OutMilitary.com is now featuring in-depth interviews with gay active duty servicemen and women… This week features “T.J.” a bi-sexual man serving in the U.S Air Force in Turkey.
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