Attorney General Eric Holder: Federal government will recognize same-sex marriages in Michigan

[Redfairen]

Source: MLive

The federal government will recognize some 300 same-sex marriages performed in Michigan on Saturday after a federal judge struck down the state's ban but before the ruling was indefinitely stayed.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday that the families will be eligible for "all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages."

Holder said the decision to recognize the marriages is consistent with previous recognition of same-sex marriages performed in Utah under similar circumstances.

The "Michigan couples will not be asked to wait for further resolution in the courts before they may seek federal benefits to which they are entitled," Holder said in a statement.



Read more: http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2014/03/attorney_general_eric_holder_f.html#incart_river_default

[groundloop]

1. Good for him.... I'm curious how that will work out though

Will the fact that the federal government recognizes the marriage going to get people onto their spouses insurance, for instance?

[Ms. Toad]

3. Generally - no.

My spouse has been on my insurance for about a decade now - in Ohio. It is the employer's decision, and in our case having a marriage recognized made it slightly more challenging. The first form we had to sign to get insurance required us to confirm, under the penalty of perjury, that we were not married. What they were trying to guard against was married individuals who either didn't bother to get divorced, or who had multiple active domestic partners, trying to gain insurance. They really meant - not married to anyone other than what they called a domestic partner. They hadn't considered same gender couples who actually are married (we were married in Canada), but whose marriages are not recognized by the state in which we currently reside.

So - for federal purposes, they will be recognized. That means they will likely be able to get health insurance if their employer is the federal government, but otherwise it won't change their entitlement to insurance.

In other words, they will be in the same state I'm in - I am married, but my marriage is not recognized by the state in which I currently live (even though it is recognized by the Federal government). The only minor quirk is that their marriage was created by a state that is temporarily not marrying them (rather than by a different state or country).

[Tx4obama]

4. Two excerpts below...

-snip-

Holder's decision means the Michigan same-sex married couples will be able to file joint federal income tax returns and are potentially eligible for other immigration and insurance benefits.

A married U.S. citizen's spouse who is not an American citizen can qualify for a family visa. If any of the couples include federal employees, their spouses can qualify for some federal benefits like health and dental insurance.

-snip-

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140328/POLITICS02/303280065/1022/rss10

U.S. expands legal benefits, services for same-sex marriages

-snip-

... impacts how millions of Americans interact with the federal government, including bankruptcy cases, prison visitation rights, survivor benefits for police officers and firefighters killed on the job, and the legal right to refuse to testify to incriminate a spouse.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/08/politics/holder-same-sex-marriage-rights/index.html

[iandhr]

2. This is good news.

But tomorrow we will here a post how the President is a sellout, just like a Republican.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. should help things along for them -- hard to un-give benefits, especially when recognized higher up

Good on Holder