Lambda Legal Statement on Benefits for Families of Federal Employees

(New York, June 2, 2010) — In response to the move by the Obama Administration to offer benefits to the partners of gay federal employees, Lambda Legal issued the following statement on behalf of Jennifer C. Pizer, Marriage Project Director:

"With today's presidential memorandum, the Obama Administration is marking Gay Pride Month with a critical mind-shift from past practice — in which the federal government seemed to pretend its LGBT employees didn’t have families — to a new era in which those families are acknowledged in a host of ways.

"Fair access to relocation support, Family and Medical Leave protections, child care services, retiree pension annuities and the range of other benefits offered (in certain circumstances) to federal employees will make an immense practical difference to the many thousands of LGBT workers who serve the American public. These benefits express basic respect for federal workers through greater recognition of their families by their employer — our government — which now comes much closer to honoring a core American value: equal pay for equal work.

"Today's great step forward notably did not include the biggest-ticket workplace benefit for many American employees — family health insurance. Whether that essential, still-missing piece is secured through Congressional action, federal court rulings or otherwise, it is needed urgently. We appreciate and echo President Obama’s exhortation to Congress to act swiftly to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, and also the Respect for Marriage Act (which will repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act). Equal access to family health insurance for all LGBT Americans is long overdue, and this harsh discrimination against hard-working public employees deserves an immediate remedy.

"Today's announcement follows release last week of a change in IRS policy to recognize the community property interests of California's registered domestic partners. This is a reversal of the unsound approach taken by the Bush Administration. The policy correction brings IRS practice back into alignment with long-standing Supreme Court case law, while also constituting a significant step forward because it acknowledges state authority to create property rights for same-sex couples who enter a state-regulated family status, whether or not that status is yet honored under federal law. Until the federal DOMA statute is repealed or overturned by the courts, life will be unfair and far too complicated for a great many LGBT Americans and their families."

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