Last month, the Pentagon announced
it would extend the same benefits heterosexual couples receive, to
same-sex couples with a spouse in the armed services. Today was the
first day military members could file for benefits, but according to My San Antonio, the Texas National Guard, Texas Air Guard and Texas State Guard refused to accept claims from members in a same-sex marriage.
My SSA said Alicia Butler, married in California in 2009 to an Iraq
veteran, was turned away from the Texas Military Forces headquarters in
Austin today when she attempted to apply for benefits. Saying the
state’s ban on gay marriage would not allow them to recognize the
marriages of same-sex couples, they suggested Alicia, who has a
five-month old son, drive almost ninety miles to Fort Hood, which is
under federal jurisdiction.
“It’s so petty. It’s not like it’s going to stop us from registering or stop us from marrying. It’s a pointed way of saying, ‘We don’t like you,” Alicia remarked.
The commander of the Texas Military Forces, Major General John
Nichols, defied the Pentagon order to begin treating same-sex couples in
the same manner the Texas National Guard treats heterosexual couples,
saying the Texas Constitution prohibited it. The general said he
wouldn’t stop gay and lesbian soldiers from collecting equal benefits,
but they would have to apply at a federally run base.
Governor Rick Perry’s office backed the Texas mutiny. A spokesman for
the governor said the Texas Military Forces was a state agency, and had
to follow Texas law.
A survey done today by the Associated Press found at least thirteen
states that do not recognize same-sex marriages were accepting requests
for identification cards and benefits as ordered by the Pentagon.
Besides Texas, only Mississippi is known to have defied the Pentagon
directive.
No comments:
Post a Comment