BY BTL STAFF
WASHINGTON – In the latest development following the Supreme Court's decision earlier this month to decline to hear any pending cases regarding same-sex marriage, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Oct. 25 that the federal government will now recognize same-sex married couples in six new states: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming, stretching the number of states where same-sex marriages are federally recognized to 32 and the District of Columbia.
Last week, Holder issued the following statement with respect to seven other states: Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin:
"We will not delay in fulfilling our responsibility to afford every eligible couple, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, the full rights and responsibilities to which they are entitled. With their long-awaited unions, we are slowly drawing closer to full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans nationwide. I am pleased to announce that the federal government will recognize the same-sex marriages now taking place in the affected states, and I have directed lawyers here at the Department of Justice to work with our colleagues at agencies across the Administration to ensure that all applicable federal benefits are extended to those couples as soon as possible. We will not delay in fulfilling our responsibility to afford every eligible couple, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, the full rights and responsibilities to which they are entitled."
Holder's announcement means couples married in these states will now qualify for a range of federal benefits, including those administered by the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs.
"With each new state where same-sex marriages are legally recognized, our nation moves closer to achieving of full equality for all Americans," Holder said. "We are acting as quickly as possible with agencies throughout the government to ensure that same-sex married couples in these states receive the fullest array of benefits allowable under federal law."
In addition, the Attorney General also announced that the Department of Justice has determined it can legally recognize marriages performed in Indiana and Wisconsin this past June. These marriages were performed immediately after federal district courts ruled that those states' bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, but subsequent developments created confusion about the status of those marriages. Based on the Attorney General's announcement, however, those couples married during that period will now have their unions recognized by the federal government.
"The steady progress toward LGBT equality we've seen – and celebrated – is important and historic. But there remain too many places in this country where men and women cannot visit their partners in the hospital, or be recognized as the rightful parents of their own adopted children; where people can be discriminated against just because they are gay. Challenges to marriage restrictions are still being actively litigated in courts across the country. And while federal appeals courts have so far been unanimous in finding that bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, if a disagreement does arise, the Supreme Court may address the question head-on. If that happens, the Justice Department is prepared to file a brief consistent with its past support for marriage equality," Holder issued in a press release last week.
Federal Gov. To Recognize Same-Sex Married Couples In Six More States
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