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Obama Administration Refuses to Comply With Judicial Order on Benefits for Lesbian Couple

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management still thinks it can’t authorize health care coverage for the same-sex spouse of a federal court employee even though a judge has ordered the agency to do, a government lawyer said Friday. Elaine Kaplan, the office’s general counsel, said in a statement issued Friday that the Department of Justice has determined that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act supersedes the recent ruling by Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. DOMA, as the law is known, prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex unions.

“As the President has explained, the Administration believes that this law is discriminatory and needs to be repealed by Congress,” Kaplan said.

The dispute involves Karen Golinski, a staff lawyer at the 9th Circuit’s San Francisco headquarters. Earlier this year and again last month, Kozinski ruled that Golinski is entitled to enroll her wife in her employer-sponsored health plan because the court has a policy prohibiting discrimination against gay workers.

Full Story from The LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-gay-marriage-federal-employees,0,1977764.story

Click here for gay marriage resources.

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Posted in benefits, federal employee, gay, judge, lawsuit, lesbian, obama administration, partner, refused | No Responses »

US: Congress Close to Vote on Benefits for Gay/Lesbian Partners of Federal Employees

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Congress is preparing to vote on a bill that would extend benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees after passage in committees from both houses. Wisconsin Representative Tammy Baldwin’s Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009 (DPBO) is quickly wending its way through Capitol Hill. The legislation would make the spouses of gay and lesbian federal employees eligible for certain benefits previously denied because the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing gay unions, bars such benefits. DPBO would carve out an exception to the law.

The proposed law received a boost Wednesday with passage out of a key Senate committee. Members OK’d the bill with an 8 to 1 vote. Senator Robert F. Bennett, a Republican, was the lone dissenter.

That is, Bennett was the lone in-person “nay” vote; five additional Republicans voted against the bill by proxy: Republican Senators Tom Coburn, John McCain, George V. Voinovich and Lindsey Graham. Those members, along with Senator John Ensign, who did not take a position on the bill, score low on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Congressional Scorecard, an annual report that measures a lawmaker’s support for gay rights. (Proxy votes are not included in a final tally.)

Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5016&MediaType=1&Category=26

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in benefits, congress, federal employee, gay partner, lesbian partner, united states, us | No Responses »