WASHINGTON — Until just two years ago, the U.S. military barred openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the armed forces, regarding them as unfit for duty.
In a sign of how quickly society is changing, the Pentagon said Wednesday it would grant special leave to thousands of military personnel in same-sex relationships so they can get married in the 13 states where such unions are legal — making them eligible for the first time for full benefits provided to other military families.
The decision, which the Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously backed, places the military in the forefront of the still-contentious national debate over same-sex unions. It follows the Supreme Court ruling in June to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, which had said the federal government would recognize marriages only between a man and a woman.
Under the new policy, legally married same-sex couples can qualify for military housing allowances, healthcare, access to base shopping exchanges, extra compensation when a spouse in the military is deployed and unable to live at home, and a wide range of other benefits long available to other military families, the Pentagon said.
"It is now the department's policy to treat all married military personnel equally," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday in a memorandum outlining the new policy. He ordered the Defense Department to provide all military spouses and their children the same benefits "regardless of whether they are in same-sex or opposite-sex marriages."
Same-sex marriage is still barred in 37 states, including the entire South, where many of the Pentagon's largest installations are located. Thus many gay and lesbian couples in the military will face the unusual situation of having their unions recognized by federal authorities while they are on base, but not by the states where they live.
"When they are on the military base, they are recognized as married, but when they step off, the state won't recognize them," said Stephen Peters, a retired Marine who heads the American Military Partner Assn., which represents same-sex military couples. He said the disparity would "highlight the continuing inequality around the country."
Critics contend that the Obama administration is pushing the military into the center of a political controversy with the goal of forcing even wider acceptance of same-sex marriage in the civilian realm.
"The military is leading the way for social change, in this case in the wrong direction," said Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, a policy organization opposed to gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. "Will it have an effect on the civilian world? Yes, but I don't see that as a good thing."
The new policy, which will take effect by Sept. 3, allows gay and lesbian service members in the U.S. as many as seven days of extra leave to get married, as long as they are stationed more than 100 miles from a state where same-sex marriages are legal or from the District of Columbia, where the marriages are also performed.
Military personnel who are overseas will get as many as 10 days to travel back to the U.S. to get married.
The armed services have been at the forefront of major social movements in the past. In 1948, President Truman issued an executive order desegregating the military at a time when much of America was still racially segregated. And in the 1970s, women were first admitted to the military academies before they had broken the glass ceiling in many other areas.
Spurred by Congress, the military lifted the prohibition on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military in September 2011. Since then, officials and senior officers have insisted that all military personnel should be treated equally, regardless of sexual orientation. But putting that into practice for same-sex couples proved difficult.
In February, the Pentagon announced that full benefits would be provided to same-sex military couples if they attested that they were in committed relationships. The policy stopped short of recognizing their marriages until the Supreme Court overturned the federal law.
The new policy "will provide accelerated access to the full range of benefits offered to married military couples throughout the department, and help level the playing field between opposite-sex and same-sex couples seeking to be married," the Pentagon said in a statement.
Defense Department officials said they had no firm estimates of how many married same-sex couples there were in the military and how much giving them benefits would cost. Officials have previously estimated that there are about 5,600 same-sex partners on active duty and 3,400 in the reserves.
Donnelly, a critic of the new policy, warned that extending benefits to same-sex couples would serve as a "magnet" to draw gays and lesbians into the military to marry, and for others to join to receive the benefits.
But Peters noted that offering same-sex couples additional leave to marry is not much of a benefit for lower-paid enlisted personnel.
"If they are living overseas or in Alaska and have to pay out of pocket, many simply can't afford" to fly to a state where same-sex marriage is legal, he said.
The Pentagon said the benefits would be retroactive to June 26, when the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act for those who were married at the time, or from the date of any subsequent marriage.
david.cloud@latimes.com
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