Freedom to Marry & OutServe-SLDN released the latest in its “Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry” video series featuring Major Shannon McLaughlin & her wife Casey McLaughlin spotlighting the harms of federal marriage discrimination to their family. Although they are legally married in the State of Massachusetts the McLaughlins are not treated the same as other military couples because of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) which denies legally married gay & lesbian couples more than 1,100 federal protections automatically granted to heterosexual couples. Allyson Robinson Army Veteran & OutServe-SLDN Executive Director stated, “As we prepare to honor mothers across the country this weekend, let us not forget that many are not being treated equally in the eyes of the law. It’s time to end DOMA & forever relinquish this kind of discrimination to the dustbin of history. We cannot have a strong & effective military & maintain two classes of service members & as long as DOMA is on the books, that’s exactly what we have.” Just one more example for this horrendous discrimination, after leaving her job to take care of their twins, Grace & Grant, Casey was excluded from the health care plan that the rest of the family uses. She is also not welcome to military functions or on base as a military spouse stating, “I am as much a military wife as anybody else … I want to be recognized & I want our kids to understand that they are the same as well.” Major Shannon McLaughlin agrees adding that for her, “a post-DOMA world” would be one where her wife is “respected & she’s not singled out as not being as good as every other military wife or husband that’s there.” Updates to Come...
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