Fact Sheet

On August 9, 2013, the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that SSA is now processing some retirement spousal claims for same-sex couples.

The Supreme Court victory in United States v. Windsor striking down the discriminatory federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) affirms that all loving and committed couples who are married deserve equal legal respect and treatment from the federal government.

The Department of Defense has issued information on implementation of the Windsor decision for same-sex military spouses.

The Department of Labor has issued additional guidance post-Windsor on the Family and Medical Leave Act. See Fact Sheet #28F: "Qualifying Reasons for Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act."

The Supreme Court’s historic ruling striking down Section 3 of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is an enormous victory for loving, married couples and their families, and affirms that they deserve equal treatment under the law. This victory demonstrates the importance of access to marriage, and gives married same-sex couples access to the tangible benefits of the federal safety net, allowing them to better protect one another and their children.

1. Marriage Helps Couples Keep Their Commitments Marriage provides protections for couples who have made a lifelong commitment to take care of and be responsible for each other. Keeping those commitments is harder when couples are barred from marriage, especially in tough times, because they may be denied the right to:

Most employees in the United States see a “FICA” deduction — reducing their take-home pay — on every paycheck. FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act. Those deductions are what employees pay into the federal Social Security system to fund benefits not only for retirement, but also for when a spouse dies or becomes disabled. The principal goal of these benefits is to provide a safety net, similar to life insurance.