Oklahoma National Guard reverses stance on same-sex couple benefits
BY PHILLIP O'CONNOR Staff Writer poconnor@opubco.com • Modified: September 17, 2013 at 3:06 pm • Published: September 17, 2013
In a policy reversal, the Oklahoma National Guard will no longer process benefit requests from same-sex couples after being notified by Gov. Mary Fallin's office that doing so violates state law banning gay marriage.
Oklahoma now joins Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana as the only states that have publicly said they will limit how and where such couples can register for benefits, despite a recent Pentagon directive that gay couples be treated equally. Oklahoma National Guard soldiers and airmen seeking such benefits are now being told they can apply at federal facilities, such as Tinker Air Force Base or Fort Sill, but not at state-run facilities manned by state employees.
After a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June threw out the Defense of Marriage Act, the U.S. Department of Defense in August announced that it would recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal. Sept. 3 was the first working day that gays in the military could apply for such benefits, including health care coverage, housing allowances and survivor benefits.
Initially, the Oklahoma National Guard said as long as a soldier seeking benefits for their same-sex partner presented a marriage certificate or license, the claim would be treated as it would for any other soldier. The guard processed two same-sex requests before being notified by Gov. Fallin's general counsel Sept. 6 that the state constitution prohibited such actions.
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