In Brief to Justices, Former Military Officials Support Same-Sex Marriage

WASHINGTON — The most influential friend-of-the-court brief in living memory was filed by a group of retired military officers in a 2003 affirmative action case.

When the case was argued, the justices echoed the brief’s argument that military preparedness would be threatened if service academies could not ensure a diverse officer corps. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s majority opinion, allowing race-conscious admissions at public universities, quoted at length from the brief.

The law firm that filed the brief, now called Sidley Austin, has filed a new one by former military officials in the same-sex marriage cases to be heard next week. Their message this time is that the patchwork of marriage laws around the country hurts military families and threatens national security.

Most workers can turn down transfers to states that do not recognize their marriages. Members of the military, who are more than twice as likely to relocate as their employed civilian counterparts, do not have that choice. Forcing service members to move to places where their marriages will cease to be recognized creates a tension between service oaths and wedding vows that hurts recruitment, retention, morale and readiness, the brief said.

“Those willing to risk their lives for the security of their country should never be forced to risk losing the protections of marriage and the attendant rights of parenthood,” the brief said, “simply because their service obligations require them to move to states that refuse to recognize their marriages.”

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