Pentagon criticized for offering spousal benefits to gay couples
February 14, 2013: The Department of Defense in the US has drawn criticism over new
policies providing same-sex partners some of the benefits normally reserved to military
spouses.
The new policies make “a mockery of the Defense of Marriage Act that
is still the law of this nation,” said Chaplain Ron Crews, a retired Army Reserve
Colonel and executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.
Speaking
to CNA on Wednesday, Crews decried these new policies, saying that they essentially
ignore the intent of federal law by treating same-sex couples as spouses. Crews pointed
to the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and
one woman for federal purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on a case challenging
the law this summer.
President Barack Obama has previously announced that he
thinks the Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and ordered the Department of
Justice to stop defending it in court. Now, Crews believes that the president’s administration
is violating the intent of the law by treating gay couples as if they were married
couples.
In a document released on Feb. 11, the Pentagon announced that some
spousal benefits will be extended to same-sex partners of active duty members of the
armed services. “At the direction of the President,” the document stated, “the Department
[of Defense] has conducted a careful and deliberative review of the services currently
provided to the families of Service members.”
“We have now identified additional
family member and dependent benefits that we can lawfully provide to same-sex domestic
partners of Military Service and their children through changes in Department of Defense
policies and regulations,” it said. The expansion of benefits to same-sex partners
follows a Congressional decision to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” thereby allowing
individuals who identify as openly gay to serve in the military.
The new Pentagon
document identifies a number of spousal services that will now be extended to same-sex
partners of armed services members. These benefits include the provision of dependent
ID cards, on-base shopping and recreation privileges, emergency leave, counseling
programs, transportation services and compensation for a missing or captive partner.
Spousal benefits that are regulated by the Defense of Marriage Act – such as health
care and housing allowances – are still reserved to heterosexual spouses.
However,
the document explained that if that law is ruled unconstitutional, the Defense Department
will “construe the words 'spouse' and 'marriage' without regards to sexual orientation,”
expanding these benefits to same-sex couples as well. Also excluded from the benefits
that are being extended to gay couples are on-base housing and burial. Secretary of
Defense Leon Penetta said that these benefits were not included because they “present
complex legal and policy challenges” and may be banned by the Defense of Marriage
Act.
He added that the Department of Defense would continue to investigate
these benefits and determine “how best to ensure that all Service members are treated
equally regardless of sexual orientation.”
Crews argued that in addition to
defying the intent of the Defense of Marriage Act, the decision is unwise for a variety
of reasons. “It is an outrage that the Department of Defense would provide benefits
to an unknown number of persons,” he said, “at significant cost to the military, at
a time when the military’s budget is being reduced. It is even worse that this is
being done without consulting Congress.”