Oklahoma National Guard defies Pentagon on same-sex benefit requests
By PHILLIP O'CONNOR NewsOK.com on Sep 18, 2013, at 2:26 AM Updated on 9/18/13 at 2:50 AM
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-national-guard-reverses-stance-on-same-sex-couple-benefits/article/3883916
Local
He is accused of sending an email to a state senator who testified that he felt threatened by the tone of the message.
The veterans, 37 of whom are from Tulsa, will visit the national World War II Memorial and will see the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery.
OKLAHOMA CITY - 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 that 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 Fallin's general counsel Sept. 6 that the state constitution prohibited such actions.
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poconnor@opubco.com
Original Print Headline: State defies Pentagon policy
Local
He is accused of sending an email to a state senator who testified that he felt threatened by the tone of the message.
The veterans, 37 of whom are from Tulsa, will visit the national World War II Memorial and will see the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery.
