Why Yes

Rights and Responsibilities Denied by DOMA

In 1997, the year the Defense of Marriage Act was passed, the United States General Accounting Office attempted to measure the new law’s influence by identifying all federal statutes which relate to marriage. They found a total of 1,049 statutes, and a 2004 update brought the number up to 1,138, covering thirteen categories. Here are a few examples of the federal rights and benefits denied to same-sex married couples. For the full list, see the complete GAO report from 1997 and the update from 2004.

1. Social Security and Related Programs, Housing, and Food Stamps

An individual may share a spouse’s Social Security, Medicare or pension plans.
If a person dies, their spouse may inherit their share of the house and other property without paying additional taxes.

2. Veteran’s Benefits

Spouses of veterans receive compensation if their husband or wife is injured or killed in the line of duty.
Disabled veterans who are married receive extra compensation to support their spouse.
Widows and widowers of veterans who died from a service-connected disability may be given training and job counseling to help them better support themselves.

3. Taxation

Tax rates are often different for single and married individuals, even if the married couple files separately.
Gifts and property transfers from one spouse to another are not taxed.

4. Federal Civilian and Military Service Benefits.

Spouses of federal employees may receive health benefits.
If a federal employee has not designated a beneficiary for life insurance, their husband or wife will likely be considered first for payment.

5. Employment Benefits and Related Laws

Employees have the right to take time off to care for a spouse who is seriously ill.
Certain high-risk occupations entitle spouses to additional benefits. For example, the husband or wife of a police officer killed on the job may be given a death benefit.

6. Immigration, Naturalization, and Aliens

If neither member of a married couple is a U.S. citizen, but one is legally employed in the United States, the other can more easily immigrate into the U.S.
Spouses of U.S. citizens have an advantage when applying for citizen status.

7. Native Americans

A Native American woman who marries a U.S. citizen is automatically granted citizen status, but retains rights to tribal property.

8. Trade, Commerce, and Intellectual Property.

Spouses may file jointly for bankruptcy, which is more efficient for the couple and for their creditors.
If someone transfers ownership of a mortgaged property to his or her spouse, banks cannot require the owner to immediately pay the full amount of the loan, unlike in most other property transfers.

9. Financial Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

If a person is required to refuse gifts above a certain value due to potential conflict of interest (if they are a member of Congress, for example), their spouse is bound by similar obligations.

10. Crimes and Family Violence

Individuals with abusive or threatening spouses receive protection under domestic violence laws.
Attempting to influence the actions of a U.S. official by threatening their spouse is a federal offense.
If a person receives Secret Service protection, their spouse also does.

11. Loans, Guarantees, and Payments in Agriculture

Married couples can merge their student loans for simplicity, with both members being liable for the entire loan.
Family farms are eligible for agricultural loans. A farm owned by a married couple is considered a family farm; one owned equally by two unrelated individuals is not.

12. Federal Natural Resources and Related Laws

Government land purchases for the purpose of creating national parks, monuments, and other public areas often allow the original owner and their spouse to continue to occupy the land throughout their lifetimes.
A farmer may count their widow or widower’s land as their own for purposes of receiving water for irrigation.