Unmarried couples seek federal benefits
Current package applies to spouses, same-sex partners of diplomats
Published: Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 4:04 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 4:04 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won praise in June after pushing to extend to gay and lesbian partners many of the federal benefits traditionally provided to diplomats' spouses.
Since then, unmarried heterosexual couples have been lining up to ask for benefits too. They have approached the State Department's personnel office and the diplomats' union, arguing that they are entitled to equal treatment.
At least one couple has threatened to challenge the rules in court as discriminatory.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is responsible for policy on federal workers, is weighing such an extension of benefits, U.S. officials say -- to the consternation of conservatives.
"They should have seen this coming," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who had opposed extending benefits to gay people. "It's a Pandora's box."
The family benefits, although a small part of diplomats' overall benefits package, are important to Foreign Service officers. Benefits include paid travel for the partner to and from overseas posts, visas and diplomatic passports, emergency medical treatment, shipment of household possessions, emergency evacuation in times of danger and education benefits for minor children.
Health insurance is not included for gay partners, although spouses are covered.
Foreign service officers contend such help is only fair, especially given the conditions they face in remote and often uncomfortable posts.
But conservatives who oppose easing the rules cite the federal Defense of Marriage Act as a key obstacle. The act, passed in 1996 and signed by President Bill Clinton, defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and says that no state shall be required to recognize a gay marriage performed in another state.
"A good argument can be made that even these relatively limited steps violate at least the spirit of the Defense of Marriage Act," said Peter Sprigg, a fellow at the Family Research Council, which advocates for socially conservative causes.
Michelle Schohn, spokeswoman for the advocacy group Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies, said her group was cautioned during the closing days of the Bush administration about the consequences of demanding family benefits for same-sex partners.
"If you included opposite-sex domestic partners, you could potentially be running afoul of (the Defense of Marriage Act) by creating this 'marriage light' category," she said.
Nationally, almost all public employers who extend benefits to same-sex partners also offer them to unmarried, opposite-sex partners, said Ilse de Veer, a principal in the international consulting group Mercer.
Among employers of all types, both public and private, more than half of those who offer benefits to same-sex partners offer them to opposite-sex partners too, she said.
Those who offer benefits to same-sex partners but not to opposite-sex mates typically base the decision on the argument that heterosexual couples have the option of marriage, de Veer said.
The number of unwed heterosexual couples in the United States represents only about 10 percent of the number of married couples, but the figure been growing. There were 6.4 million unmarried, opposite-sex couples in the U.S. in 2007, compared to fewer than 1 million in 1977, census data show.
Schohn said her group supports extending benefits to unmarried heterosexual couples.
"They're our natural allies," she said.
The American Foreign Service Association, the diplomats' union, has not yet taken a position, said Tom Switzer, a spokesman for the group.
But the association "has heard from a number of members who believe that the same benefits should be extended to opposite-sex unmarried partners as well," he said.
In June, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum extending family benefits to same-sex partners -- a concept opposed by the Bush administration, despite years of pressure from gay-rights advocates.
The issue gained visibility in 2007 when the former U.S. ambassador to Romania, Michael Guest, quit the Foreign Service in protest over the issue.
Advocates of extending benefits to unmarried heterosexuals have support from key members of Congress, including Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the committee's top Republican.
Obama's June memorandum omitted health insurance and pension benefits for same-sex partners. Federal officials estimate that including the broader benefits would have cost another $56 million in 2010, several times the price of the narrower benefits.
Some legal experts say including the broader benefits could violate the Defense of Marriage Act -- a law that Obama has said should be repealed.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
Comments are currently unavailable on this article