As the result of a lawsuit filed in August, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) came under harsh criticism for continuing to deny federal benefits to legally married LGBT veterans and their partners.

Lawyers and veterans a part of American Military Partner Association (AMPA),a support network for the partners and spouses of LGBT service members, sued the VA, alleging that the department continued to enact in its charter the controversial Title 38 section 103c when determining the validity of marriages for veteran benefits purposes. The passage contains language from before the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevented federal entities from recognizing same-sex partnerships, and was effectively struck down in 2013.

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Under the federated system of U.S. governance, states can have laws and protocols different from each other as long as the states acknowledge the over-arching federal authority. The AMPA suit charges that federal bodies such as the VA should act according to federal law, which includes equal rights for LGBT employees across all government bodies, including the armed forces and veterans thereof.

"This is completely unacceptable and must be fixed now. It's unconscionable that legally married LGBT veterans are still being denied their full veterans benefits if they happen to live in a state that doesn't respect their marriage. These are earned federal benefits, not benefits from the state," said Gene Silvestri, a U.S. Army veteran and AMPA's Veterans Affairs Coordinator.  

"How much longer do these families have to wait for the benefits they've sacrificed for and earned serving our nation?" asked Ashley Broadway, spouse of a U.S. Army officer and AMPA's Director of Family Readiness. "More importantly, why does no one seem to care that these families are being treated differently? Where are the Members of Congress who are supposedly champions of our veterans and their families?"

The petition filed in the Federal Circuit Court argues that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in United States v. Windsor struck down Section 3 of DOMA, and specifically flagged as unconstitutional the deprivation of veterans benefits to same-sex spouses.

The petition further states, "Having weathered the federal government's past, longstanding discrimination against them, lesbian and gay veterans and their families find themselves once again deprived of equal rights and earned benefits by the government they served and the nation for which they sacrificed."

The challenge is now pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

TagsLGBT, veterans, DOMA, benefits, AMPA