Gay Marriage Lawsuit In The Offing

Same sex couples can get married--that's spelled M-A-R-R-I-E-D, not C-I-V-I-L-L-Y U-N-I-F-I-E-D-- in Massachusetts. But that doesn't win them any door prizes in the federal benefits lottery, because the federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as existing only between one man and one woman. That means same-sex couples don't get the goodie bags opposite-sex married folks do, like Social Security benefits following the death of a spouse, eligibility for spousal IRAs, health insurance benefits for the same-sex spouses of federal employees, the constellation of benefits available to spouses who file joint tax returns... Et freakin cetera.

Fifteen married gays and lesbians denied these benefits are filing suit today in federal court to challenge this aspect of DOMA. This is going to be a really interesting lawsuit to watch, especially since the 9th Circuit (the federal appeals circuit encompassing the left coast states) ruled about a month ago in two separate proceedings that DOMA aside, court administrators in that circuit had to give health insurance benefits to same-sex spouses. These were internal administrative proceedings, so they don't have any precendential value, and only one of those decisions directly addressed the issue of DOMA's constitutionality (finding: not so much constitutional). But when you've got both a judge with a reputation for being a liberal (Reinhardt) and a Reagan appointee (Kozinski) finding that certain federal benefits must be extended to legally married same-sex couples, that might hold some real persuasive power for the court hearing the Massachusetts case.