To: Governor Greg Abbott
Gov. Rick Perry: Stop Denying Benefits to Same-Sex Couples Serving in Texas Military Forces
American service members risk their lives every day to protect liberty and equality all over the world. It's time to show them the same basic fairness when it comes to protecting their own families in their home state. When our service members serve our country at home or abroad, they need to know that their families will get the benefits they need, no matter what.
Why is this important?
Imagine if your husband is risking his life for his country fighting overseas, but your home state says that if something happens to him, you won't be entitled to equal access to health and death benefits. That's happening.
Even though the Department of Justice and Department of Defense issued directives to provide benefits to same-sex spouses, Texas announced that it intends to deny equal access to military benefits for National Guard families.
Most states are already allowing federal coverage for health and death benefits to be processed for same-sex spouses the same way that they are processed for everyone else - even if state constitutions ban marriage for same-sex couples. However, Texas is putting needless, discriminatory roadblocks in the way by forcing service members’ spouses to travel miles out of the way to a separate federal facility to access the benefits they are legally entitled to.
The Department of Defense deserves great credit for updating their policy to provide equal access to benefits regardless of sexual orientation. Now it's up to the governor to use his authority over the National Guard to provide equal care for all Texas service member families.
American service members risk their lives every day to protect liberty and equality all over the world. It's time to show them the same basic fairness when it comes to protecting their own families in their home state.