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Subscribe to RSSDeparting Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta extended Monday a list of benefits — all previously denied by the Pentagon — to the same-sex spouses of service members as well as to the unmarried partners of gay troops.
The perks, automatically available to heterosexual military spouses, will include child care services, member-designated hospital visits, and the issuing of military ID cards, which will give same-sex spouses and partners access to on-base commissaries, movie theaters and gyms. The policy changes will go into effect once training on the new rules is completed, Panetta said.
While advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families hailed Panetta’s policy switch as “substantive” and “encouraging,” the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still blocks the DOD from enacting more than 85 other benefits now provided to heterosexual military spouses and their children — most notably medical and dental care, housing allowances, and death benefits.
Also, as NBC News reported Feb. 4, that same federal law mandates that when a gay service member is killed in combat, military officials must first notify that troop’s blood family, not their spouse, as is normally the course of action.
Panetta said DOMA is “now being reviewed by the United States Supreme Court" — and he offered his first clear signal that the Pentagon wants that law overturned.
“There are certain benefits that can only be provided to spouses as defined by that law,” Panetta said. “While it will not change during my tenure as secretary of defense, I foresee a time when the law will allow the department to grant full benefits to service members and their dependents, irrespective of sexual orientation. Until then, the department will continue to comply with current law while doing all we can to take care of all soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and their families."
Same-sex advocates have been pushing the DOD to extend full benefits to the spouses and partners of all U.S. service members since the repeal 17 months of ago of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which prohibited gay troops from revealing their sexual orientation.
“At the time of repeal, I committed to reviewing benefits that had not previously been available to same-sex partners based on existing law and policy,” Panetta said. “It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country ...
“Taking care of our service members and honoring the sacrifices of all military families are two core values of this nation. Extending these benefits is an appropriate next step under current law to ensure that all service members receive equal support for what they do to protect this nation."
Advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families praised Panetta’s policy shift although they said that the move is not groundbreaking due to the DOMA legal blockade.
“Secretary Panetta’s decision today answers the call President (Barack) Obama issued in his inaugural address to complete our nation's journey toward equality, acknowledging the equal service and equal sacrifice of our gay and lesbian service members and their families,” said Allyson Robinson, an Army veteran and executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an association of actively serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender U.S. military personnel with more than 50 chapters and 6,000 members.
“We thank him for getting us a few steps closer to full equality — steps that will substantively improve the quality of life of gay and lesbian military families,” Robinson said.
The American Military Partner Association (AMPA), a support network for LGBT military families, released the following statement today in response to Panetta's announcement:
“We’ve waited far too long for this, and it’s fantastic news that our dedicated military families will now have access to some of the benefits and support services they need and deserve,” said Stephen Peters, the group's president. “However, (DOMA) continues to undermine our military families who sacrifice so much for our nation. This summer, we hope that the Supreme Court will make it clear that our families are just as important and deserve the same protections, benefits, and support that federal recognition brings.”
To offer the new benefits to partners, DOD will ask gay and lesbian service members to sign a “Declaration of Domestic Partnership” in which they will attest that they are in a committed relationship, and intend to remain so indefinitely, and that neither is legally married, according to OutServe-SLDN.
The changes will take “several months to complete, Pentagon officials said. The extra time is needed so that military leaders can offer a chance for the public to comment on the new rules and also to allow an opportunity for each of the branches to update its IT system, develop new processes for issuing ID cards, and train their personnel on the refreshed benefits package.
Panetta did stop short on offering a full slate of benefits that gay advocates have been requesting for two years: on-base housing and burial at Arlington National Cemetery and other items that don’t fall under DOMA, according to OutServe-SLDN. (The organization’s lawyers drafted an explanation outlining the policy shift for gay service members and their families.)
DOD officials have explained to OutServe-SLDN that “policy for burial at Arlington National Cemetery is under review. At issue is how to verify eligible same-sex relationships for the surviving spouse in order to ensure equitable policy implementation."
NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.
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In defense of your country, bullets don't care if you are gay or straight. This is a change long overdue and an end to unjust treatment.
Burn in hell all you conforming pigs. YOU GET what you sow and each time the blind say,, HOW Could this happen in America. Well you pigs are why it's happening in America and again you turn to sick and perverted agendas in your blinded idiocy of turning our nation into Sodom..
Stupid idiots who think a gun has a brain...YOU only see this deception and one sided agenda that is now blaming guns instead of violent people. Guess since people have rocks for brains today, the gun in smarter..
More and more destruction coming, more killings, Record tornadoes, and storms and criminal governments deception and greed. NO God in a country of vipers. But let the O-Abomination thrive and keep conforming to Sodom.. Reap what you sow wicked generation.."And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of this America, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 25:15
YOUR HOUSE Invaded and taken by the Servants and they call it the STATE OF THE UNION message, NOT?? it's the STATE of their division and deceptions upon the people. Wonder how many more lies will lead this government into hell. With their own lying lips they walk away in their great O-Abomination upon our lands and the stupid people just stand silent in their Disney land mentalities of Why get off the fun ride until it crashes, then when it's too late and it does crash they cry like spoiled babies... Selfish Me Myself and I is what this country has become and their is surely no union,,or united states in this divided states of some Ameri-Con artist, theft and liar who is headed to hell for his lack of great values for our nation,, More to come folks and they again will blame the gun with a brain. surely idiots without one. Make sure you call to God again in your ignorant plea of why our nation is failing and falling into the pit of Hell..Selfish vain plea when you see and hear the coming destruction, your murderous ways, your perverted minds..
Boy, who forgot to take their meds today? Or is the idea of a Black President elected by a majority of Americans just too much for you to handle? Chill.
Or is the idea of a Black President elected by a majority of Americans
Correction, majority of people that voted. Several million didn't vote. But if you don't vote, you shouldn't cry about the results.
Chuck these words may help you
”A poet once said, ‘Life can be a challenge, life can seem impossible, but it’s never easy when there’s so much on the line.’” ~ Herman Cain, using the theme song of the Pokemon movie in the closing statement of the first GOP debate in 2012
"But if you don't vote, you shouldn't cry about the results."
Damn skippy!
u mad?
Always amazes me when these religious people tell us all how their god is going to destroy us for the decisions we make. Why hasn't it happened already? Didn't people say the same thing about Lincoln? Sad, really.
you've got to be kidding me!!! lets focus on important issues and keep the faggots out of the military. we need a fighting well equiped force not a bunch of dick sucking or carpet munchers
pretty weird.
BTW, which of those two categories do you fall into, or would it be both?
'Fess up.
And this dude thinks he's a Christian, perhaps even an Eagle Scout, with this heart so filled with stereotyping and hatred. He is exactly why Obama and his supporters will keep on winning--Because Mr. Help is a liar and a loser and his type of hatefulness turn off the vast majority of Americans.
and we need mature posters here, but sadly we aren't getting them..lol..I mean..seriously..."dick sucking or carpet munchers'? good grief, are you 12?
such a good leader that he does it on the way out the door. Real brave sort that. Too bad the heterophobes won't ever get the acceptance they thing they can legislate.
Yeah.
Why not, fall for one, one for fall.
Doug.....I think homophobes are better at history than non-homophobes.
Good, because as long as equality keeps coming, homophobes keep fading into history.
homophobe is way overused.It is called heterophilic or nature
Agreed -- it's usually hate or ignorance at play, not the fear implied by 'phobia.'
So if I could get married to my dog,whom I love lots i could get free health insurance for her
When she is able to give informed consent ... which of course would be never, although sometimes I wonder if some pets are smarter than their owners ...
Regardless, informed consent is needed for a legal contract, secular marriage is a legal contract, an animal cannot give informed consent, therefore you cannot marry your dog. Sorry to disappoint you, but happy to educate you.
homophobes have this obsession with animals, dont they? lol. Its creepy, in an amusing way. :)
see above VG
Sodom and Gomorrah......ZOOOM........just passed you. God help our once great country!
I think our country is great. Maybe you should try iran?
I'd help YOU buy a ticket vermontguy--you'd fit right in over there.
Really? And you have proof that Sodom was truly destroyed by your god, and not an act of nature? Prove it, loudmouth. Otherwise, keep it to yourself. Not everyone believes that BS fairy tale.
I wonder how many "partners" can get the benefits?
It doesn't say explicitly, of course, but presumably we're apply the concept of equality here..and straights can have a total of two partners together, so one might assume the same for gays.
except like the icky 3 person birth certificate w 2 dykes and a a a 'guy'
It's a great day for spouses who serve along side their troops.
Who cares what we have learned about the human psyche over the past several hundred years? Who care what it does to our nation or to your bodies? who care what what it does to the family or humanity for that matter?. I don't hate people that don't believe like I do but I also don't force them and the entire Nation to obey what I believe. I don't go running in parades to say I am heterosexual. I don't lobby and pay off government officials to vote for my agenda. Marriage Is a religious act/contract/bond/covenant and to say same sex people are bound to Gods laws is ridiculous at best. You want to be recognized fine but do not say marriage, Civil union, legally bound, in a relationship. lovers etc. I do not want to pay for it!
WRONG, bonehead. Marriage is a CONTRACT between two persons. If you want to add a religious aspect to it, go ahead. But our government doesn't give a rats patootie how you get married, they only recognize that you ARE married and are therefore entitled to certain rights. You want to explain why non-religious married couples get the same benefits that religiously married couples do? Somehow that doesn't seem right, at least from your point of view. The incredible stupidity really gets to me. I need to learn to just accept that people are bigoted, narrow-minded, and downright stupid, and just let it go at that.
John-3421065 commented: "There goes the US Military, up the creek.Most career military will be leaving Ellen Degeneres will be made a General and put in Charge and her wife Rossi will be a Colonel.In the next war the Gays and lesbians will be taking time out to feel up each other and the straight troops who will have to wear body armor over their backsides. Contrary to popular political beliefs most people in the military are totally against this, the military is going to go to @!$%#."
Really John? So please show me your source for the total BS in your comment. And to be specific " Contrary to popular political beliefs most people in the military are totally against this, the military is going to go to @!$%#." Because I will be MORE THAN HAPPY to show sources that debunk it. For example:
From 2010 Army Times: "Working alongside gays is not a big deal for the vast majority of today’s troops, according to a Pentagon study released Tuesday. And repealing the military’s current ban on open service by gays poses little overall risk to military readiness, unit cohesion and troop retention, the study group concluded. Many troops’ attitudes were reflected by one special operations soldier cited in the report: “We have a gay guy [in the unit]. He’s big, he’s mean and he kills lots of bad guys. Nobody cared that he was gay,” the soldier told investigators."
And this from a Sept, 2012 article in The Hill:
"A year after the military implemented the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” the issue of having openly gay service members has plummeted as a hot political topic. The armed forces have reported few problems with implementation, and even initial critics of changing the law view implementation largely as a success. As
a result, there’s little talk on Capitol Hill among Republicans about trying to change the law again — even if Mitt Romney wins the White House and the GOP takes the Senate. Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed repeal when it was passed by Congress in 2010, told The Hill they don’t have any plans to revisit the law
itself next year. The GOP lawmakers say they are deferring to military commanders on the matter — and the commanders have said they think implementation has been a success. “I don’t want to say whether it should be taken up, but I think, unless there’s evidence of the mission of the various services [not] being carried out,
it probably won’t be,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “All I can make a judgment on is that people on the Joint Chiefs of Staff have indicated that it’s been smooth,” Grassley told The Hill. “And I can say I probably haven’t heard much from military people that I’ve contacted.”
Want to try again "John"?
Blah, blah the rantings of a bigoted, poorly endowed man whose girl will eventually leave him for a woman.
Civil rights are not subject to votes and therefore majority rule on them is irrelevant...kind of like the rest of your comment.
Did I mention that 53% now support gay marriage?
Sexual preference is not a civil right.
Good. Then let's remove ALL THE TAX BENEFITS that hetrosexual married couples get because after all "Sexual preference is not a civil right".
Tax codes were written into law, and can be changed at any time.
But still doesn't change the fact that sexual preference is not a civil right.
Try to follow along here. When CIVIL LAWS are not written based on SEXUAL ORIENTATION, then this will not be an issue. Not "sexual preference" but "sexual orientation" And don't start with the BS that you can "choose" to be hetrosexual or homosexual, because that is EXACTLY what it is, BS.
Try to follow along here yourself.
Sexual orientation is not a civil right, nor is it a protected class.
No choice about it.
You're correct, no choice about it. I didn't decide to be straight, I just am. Did you?
It doesn't matter how you chose.
It still doesn't make it a civil right.
Again, Obamanation try to follow along here. Which I realize is not easy for you. There are VERY SPECIFIC CIVIL LAWS that favor hetrosexual AMERICANs over homosexual Americans. Those CIVIL LAWS currently exist and DEFINITELY are based STRICTLY on sexual orientation. So your argument is useless in the face of CIVIL laws that SPECIFICALLY DO FAVOR a specific sexual orientation . Now is that clear enough for you, or do you need pictures and one syllable words?
A Real Man with a Grilfriend will have the same benefits as a partner.
And I am glad that I did my time before all this @!$%# started.
And just who defines a Real Man? You? LOL!!
After a career in the service needing to hide my orientation, I'm once again proud to have served my country.
"I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
Have you seen the GAY movies he made before he immigrated from Austria ? Funny how Republicanism changes everything. "Arnold Strong" was a real, "mans man " before he became a GOP shill.
I havnt seen it but i heard about it bu he fits right in with theest of the idiots
At least the Governator stepped up to the plate when it counted and refused to defend Prop h8.
The Defense Of Marriage Act goes in front of the Supreme Court probably in March. Hopefully they will not screw this one up and declare this idiotic piece of legislation to be unconstitutional and kick it out the door.
Of course this will probably not happen if DOMA magically turns into a corporation and want's its "rights" protected by the Supreme Court, which would immediately agree that the DOMA Corporation rights are FAR MORE important than the rights of individual Americans. Which is EXACTLY what this Roberts led court has been doing for the last 8 years almost without exception when a corporation goes before the court.
Thanks a lot, Leon. You just shoved the military down the tubes...pretty gutless of you to do it just as you're leaving. You won't have to deal with the aftermath...
“Our gays are more macho than their straights.” ~ Ann Coulter, commenting in 2005 on Jeff Gannon, the conservative plant in the White House press corps who turned out to be a male escort
its immoral, illegal, and wrong!! ! ! ! the liberals are going to ruin what they havnt already destroyed of our judeo-christian nation! ! ! ! the ones that sign their checks on the back have us out numbered, we are doomed! ! ! ! just what the illegal alien muslim antiamerican wants! ! ! ! !
Our founders neve said we was a christian nation, and do you go to Westboro church?
Last I checked, our nation was founded on the seperation of church and state. Therefor all religious arguments about this topic are null and void. Bring an argument against gay rights/marriage that isn't founded in religion and I will gladly listen, but I'm positive you can't as there is no non-religious argument.
Ha ha ha ha ha. I can't stop laughing. What a maroon.
Goodness gracious me, the trolls are at it today. If a fellow human being wishes to volunteer to risk their life for the freedoms that we hold dear, the least we can do is take care of their loved ones. I am not asking for those who are against homosexuality to like it, just agree that if somebody is willing to risk their lives to protect you, then their loved ones should be taken care of.
Boy, Panetta must be pissed as he leaves office!
“He is purple – the gay-pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle – the gay pride symbol.” ~ Jerry Falwell’s warning to parents that “Tinky Winky of Teletubbies, may be gay
Gays have no rights because they are gay, they have rights in spite of being gay. The should have the common decency to keep their perversions to themselves and definitely should be sure children aren't exposed to such disgusting behavior. The best way to insure equality for the sexually confused is for them to keep such silliness private.
I definitly do not approve of my tax money going to the openly pervert because some people think we should tolorate such behavior in our society.
Explain why chilren that grow upin christian homes, become gay when they get older? Would you trust your kids with a priest?
They become gay because they were somehow made to believe that it was ok to be gay...and gays are are so totally obsessed with sex that it's easy to find a partner.
Now explain how exactly would you know that? Are saying there is no way they can be born that way? Some would say most men in general are obsessed with sex with watching porn and married men paying for sex and strip clubs
"Amazedandalarmed". Really? Then how about the millions of children who are raised in strictly hetrosexual households, with very loving parents, who's siblings are all hetrosexual, but this one person has NEVER been attracted to a member of the opposite sex. And for the record, NEITHER hetrosexuals OR homosexuals are "totally obsessed with sex". There may be a very small majority who are literally sexual addicts. But the MAJORITY of BOTH hetrosexuals AND homosexuals see sex as a natural part of a relationship. Along with ALL the other things that couples share.
And I don't want my tax money going towards those with blind hatred.
Charles Sosa----as to "born that way"...sure there are a very, very, few poor humans that have mutated genes that confused the correct gender being developed...but that is so few as to be like 1 in a 1000. The rest chose it for either the thrill of the sheer nastiness of it and/or just because gays are easy and/or just to be "special"--- all kind of like criminals and drug addicts, makes no sense to "choose" such a disgusting, dangerous, and demeaning lifestyle such as being a criminal or a drug addict or gay, but idiots still do it.
Nate123456---I don't hate homosexuals, hell, i really don't hate anybody I can think of. I feel sorry for them but they should have the decency to keep it behind closed doors and they definitely don't deserve any tax money for servicing our misguided servicemen.
amazed - yes, you do hate. It's obvious. Sorry, but SCIENCE has proven (more than once) that sexual orientation is part of human kind. We are ALL homosexual to an extent - some more than others. Ron White proved it!! LOL
However, I do not understand, if you are a US citizen, that you would want to discriminate against other US citizens. Didn't we put a stop to that in the 60s? Isn't the idea that if you are a citizen, you are EQUAL under the law? If I can enter into a contract with another person of the same sex, what difference does it make what type of contract it is? Between two consenting adults, no other adult has the right to interfere in a mutually accepted contract. Period.
EQUALITY ? fOR WHAT !!! You don't make babies, you just "put from the ruff"" I say stay in your closet, nobody around here gonna pat you on the back for finding a differant way to get off. You people need help.
Hmm. I'm a straight female that can't have children because of medical reasons. Should I go into the closet? Do I need help.
Bigots, full of hatred. Yet they all believe their god wants them to be like this. Or at least all the way until Christmas...