Gay rights took a big step forward when DOMA went down to
defeat. But there is a lot more to do. Here is a key reason why.
The DOMA ruling makes it possible for Obama to grant rights and
benefits to gay couples – at the federal level. But there are many rights and
benefits which are generally left to the states: the DOMA ruling doesn’t really
address them. The other big Supreme Court ruling, on the California law, is
pretty much specific to California – it is unlikely to be applicable to the
other three dozen states where gays and lesbians are still fighting for their
rights.
The rights which married couples have – the list we reviewed
elsewhere -- fall broadly speaking into three categories.
First, there are the issues which are mostly settled at the
federal level: this is the stuff that Obama can start working to fix, now that
DOMA has been overturned. It includes compensation for service-related deaths,
income tax filing status and deductions, Social Security, veteran’s pensions
and disability, disabled vets tax exemptions, relocation benefits for military
families, and spousal assets as a factor in determining need for government aid
-- VA benefits, housing, educational loans, farm price supports.
Second, there are the rights and benefits which are mostly
managed at the state level – this is the stuff that is essentially unchanged
even after the DOMA ruling. It includes tax-free property transfers, organ
donor issues, next-of-kin status, access to school records, alimony, foster
care, medical decisions, and funeral decisions, condominium laws, child
support.
Then there is the stuff in the middle, the questions that can be
either a federal issue or a state issue, depending on what you’re trying to do,
and where. This include a big one, insurance coverage, as well as survivor
benefits, continuation of health care for surviving spouses, parental rights,
child custody, adoption, homestead laws, water rights, name changes, domestic
violence laws, spousal privilege for criminal witnesses, prison and hospital
visitation, conflict-of-interest rules, bankruptcy, shared property, prenuptial
agreements, wills and inheritance.
So remember that the battle for equality is far from over.
