Guard ordered to ensure gay spouses’ benefits

http://www.pressherald.com/news/nationworld/Guard_ordered_to_ensure_gay_spouses__benefits.html

The defense secretary says commanders in nine states must uphold the rights of all service members.

Guard ordered to ensure gay spouses’ benefits
Tribune Washington Bureau
Posted:Today Updated: 12:11 AM

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the head of the National Guard “to take immediate action” to ensure that same-sex spouses of guard personnel in nine states – including Texas, Florida and South Carolina – are allowed to register for full benefits and receive identification cards giving them access to military bases in keeping with a Pentagon policy that went into effect in September.

Despite the new policy, National Guard commanders in those nine states, which do not permit same-sex marriages, have refused to register gay spouses at guard installations. Instead, they have required same-sex spouses to travel to federal military installations to register for benefits.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down portions of the Defense of Marriage Act in June, allowing federal benefits for same-sex marriages, but some states have balked at applying that standard to their National Guard troops, citing a potential conflict between state law and Pentagon policy.

In a speech Thursday night at the 100th annual Anti-Defamation League dinner in New York City, Hagel said he had asked Gen. Frank Grass to meet with the state adjutants to resolve the dispute.