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Judge rules U.S. military cannot deny benefits to lesbian veteran and her wife
Source: Reuters
Judge rules U.S. military cannot deny benefits to lesbian veteran and her wife
By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:26am EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. military cannot deny spousal benefits to a lesbian veteran in a same-sex marriage because doing so does not serve any purpose for the armed forces, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
The decision, which could set the stage for gay and lesbian veterans and their partners to claim those benefits, follows a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in June that invalidated a key portion of the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that had defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall, a federal judge based in Los Angeles, made the latest ruling in the case of a lawsuit filed last year by a U.S. Army veteran and her lesbian spouse.
The couple's attorneys had sought an order from the judge that would find unconstitutional a federal statute that denies benefits to U.S. military veterans in same-sex unions.
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By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:26am EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. military cannot deny spousal benefits to a lesbian veteran in a same-sex marriage because doing so does not serve any purpose for the armed forces, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
The decision, which could set the stage for gay and lesbian veterans and their partners to claim those benefits, follows a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in June that invalidated a key portion of the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that had defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall, a federal judge based in Los Angeles, made the latest ruling in the case of a lawsuit filed last year by a U.S. Army veteran and her lesbian spouse.
The couple's attorneys had sought an order from the judge that would find unconstitutional a federal statute that denies benefits to U.S. military veterans in same-sex unions.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/30/us-usa-veterans-benefits-idUSBRE97T07R20130830
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