Today, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Social Security Administration (SSA) dismissed their Ninth Circuit appeals of two nationwide class actions won by Lambda Legal in favor of surviving same-sex spouses and partners denied equal access to social security survivor’s benefits.
Lambda Legal wins class action fight on behalf of surviving same-sex spouses denied equal access to survivor's benefits due to unconstitutional marriage bans.
(Tucson, AZ, March 6, 2020) – Lambda Legal today asked a federal court to end the U.S. Social Security Administration’s (SSA) refusal to provide monthly spousal survivor’s benefits to a 66-year-old gay man whose husband and partner of 43 years died six months after Arizona began allowing same-sex couples to marry.
Lambda Legal today asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to provide relief to all surviving same-sex spouses denied equal access to social security survivor’s benefits, including through certification of a class action.
“The Social Security Administration is allowing the heartbreak of discriminatory marriage bans to persist by holding same-sex couples to a standard that many could not meet.”
