Following similar suits in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana has filed an amended lawsuit
against the state on behalf of seven gay couples in an attempt to win
for them the same benefits that married straight couples receive. The Missoulian reports:
In the amended lawsuit, attorney James Goetz identifies numerous
statues, including laws he says prevent gay couples from receiving
financial protections given to police officers and spouses and from
designating their partners as beneficiaries for worker's compensation.
Other laws Goetz cites exclude gay
couples from financial protections for surviving spouses, authority over
end-of-life decisions, financial protections due to illness or
disability and protections from the dissolution of their relationships.
In December 2012, the Montana Supreme Court denied the ACLU's original appeal challenging
every statue excluding committed same-sex couples form protections
granted to straight couples. The Justices did say, however, that the
ACLU could move forward with statute-specific efforts to secure equal
treatment for same-sex couples in the state.
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