Since the US Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional there’s important information that gay & lesbian couples need to know to access the 1100 federal rights & benefits that we have secured. The United States Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) is already working on extending benefits to gay & lesbian Federal employees & annuitants who have a legally married a spouse. Lee Swislow, Executive Director of GLAD stated, “When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA last week, we knew it would have an immediate positive impact on thousands of gay & lesbian couples & their families. In a swift & welcome announcement, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has created a special 60-day open enrollment period for federal employees who are legally married to a spouse of the same-gender to begin receiving access to benefits they rightly deserve, including health insurance; life insurance; flexible savings accounts; & the ability of retirees to elect a survivor annuity if they have married following retirement. In another development that is already affecting many lives, the Department of Homeland Security has clarified that U.S. citizens in same-gender bi-national marriages are now eligible to apply for green cards for their spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse. These are policy changes with the capacity to make a significant difference in people's lives. I am so happy to see the administration moving quickly to ensure gay & lesbian couples & their families are finally treated fairly.”
For More Info:glad.org
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