In case you missed it, on Friday 26 June 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that it is unlawful to deny a couple the right to be married just because they happen to be a same sex couple. It’s a ruling 11 years in the making.
In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize gay marriages. Since then, 34 other states have followed. In 2010, President Obama struck down Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and allowed openly homosexual service members to serve without fear of being discharged from the military just because of who they loved. Members who were originally discharged from their military positions were allowed to re-enlist and serve their country the way they wanted to do from the start. Then in 2013, the military won again when same sex married couples were recognized and given the same benefits as other married couples. While this was a giant leap forward, those benefits covered by the VA were still denied to couples that lived in states where same sex marriage was banned. With Friday’s ruling there is no longer a barrier to any benefits for these couples. Same sex couples now have access to all veterans benefits given to every other military family. What a wonderful step in the right direction to embrace all military families, no matter what they define family as.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
To quote my mother: LOVE IS LOVE!
Now read… 10 Things About Military Wives You Probably Don’t Want to Know
