U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D. NH) paid tribute to openly gay National Guardswoman, Charlie Morgan, on the Senate floor on Thursday, February 14th. Morgan passed away on Sunday after a long battle with cancer. Morgan and her partner Karen earned national spotlight for challenging the legality of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA):
http://www.gaystarnews.com/...
"I hope that Charlie Morgan knew how many lives she touched and how greatly we admired her efforts," Shaheen said. "I know that she will be sorely missed and that her example will continue to guide us well into the future."
Shaheen told her senate colleagues that she met Morgan in 2011. Morgan had contacted her office after serving for a year in Kuwait and finding out that her spouse would be unable to attend a transition program known as National Guard Yellow Ribbon Reintegration. Shaheen worked with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to ensure Morgan’s family could participate. - Gay Star News, 2/15/13
But according to OutServe-SLDN, Karen Morgan isn't entitled to survivor's benefits:
http://www.fosters.com/...
In the wake of Morgan's death, OutServe-SLDN — an association of gay and lesbian service members — released a statement claiming that Morgan's spouse, Karen Morgan, is “not entitled to survivor's benefits following ... Morgan's death” because of the federal law.
OutServe-SLDN is the group that filed the lawsuit challenging DOMA two years ago. Communications director Zeke Stokes said Wednesday that Karen Morgan is ineligible to receive a so-called “death gratuity benefit” from the military because federal law does not recognize gay marriages.
OutServe-SLDN Legal Director David McKean repeated that analysis on Friday. He called the military's death gratuity benefit a “pretty substantial financial package,” and said Karen Morgan is not eligible to receive it.
“That's another one of these kind of cash payments that are intended to relieve the financial stress of having the breadwinner of the house pass ... and that's something Karen is also not eligible for,” McKean said. - Foster's Daily Democrat, 2/16/13
Major Greg Heilshorn of the New Hampshire National Guard has denied that Karen Morgan is being denied the full survivors benefits package but has stated that federal law does prohibit same-sex couples from receiving some survivor benefits from the military:
If a service member dies while on active duty, the military pays a death gratuity to any beneficiary chosen by the service member, Heilshorn said. The benefit is not restricted based on marriage, he said.
Lt. Commander Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, confirmed Friday that the military's death gratuity benefit is available to same-sex couples. If a service member dies while on active duty, the death gratuity provides up to $100,000 to any beneficiary designated on the member's “Record of Emergency Data” form, according to information provided by the Department of Defense.
Heilshorn said he is confident a death gratuity benefit has already been paid out by the military to Karen Morgan.
“I am 100 percent sure that Karen Morgan received the death gratuity payment,” he said, adding, “It was delivered by hand, in person, by a member of our organization.”
Heilshorn said Karen Morgan is also eligible to receive military life insurance payments, which are classified as a “member-designated benefit.” That means the life insurance policyholder can choose who receives money after their death. - Foster's Daily Democrat, 2/16/13
OutServe-SLDN Legal Director David McKean argues that Morgan has not received any form of a death gratuity benefit from the military. The term “death gratuity” can be used to reference two different types of survivor benefits, one of which can only be paid out to a spouse. The "death gratuity" is outlined in Title 5 of the US Code deals with government employees and civil servants. McKean also points out that Karen Morgan is also being denied other benefits that heterosexual military couples would be receiving:
One such benefit is “dependency and indemnity compensation” (DIC) from the military.
DIC payments are provided on a monthly basis to spouses of servicemembers who die while on active duty, McKean said.
If she were a heterosexual, Karen Morgan would now be eligible for an estimated $1,100 per month in DIC payments, McKean said, adding up to an estimated $400,000 over the course of 30 years.
The other major benefit to which Karen Morgan has been denied access is military health care coverage, McKean said. Heterosexual spouses of servicemembers are eligible for “TriCare,” the military medical and dental health insurance program.
Karen Morgan would be eligible to receive health insurance coverage for three years after her spouse's death if she was married to a heterosexual servicemember, McKean said.
The federal marriage law does not impact the eligibility of the couple's 5-year-old daughter, Casey Elena, for military health insurance, McKean said. - Foster's Daily Democrat, 2/16/13
Karen Morgan being denied these benefits has motivated to push through legislation that would guarantee gay and lesbian military couples the same benefits as heterosexual military couples. Sheheen's legislation is called the Charlie Morgan Act in honor of Charlies Morgan:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/...
In honor of local National Guardswoman Charlie Morgan, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on Thursday introduced legislation that would extend military benefits to same-sex military families.
According to the New Hampshire Democrat's office, the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2013 is named after Morgan, 48, who died Sunday of breast cancer. Morgan, a part-time Rye resident, left a wife, Karen, and a daughter, Casey, 5, who, Shaheen said in a press release, "will not be eligible for survivor benefits because of the military's policy on same-sex marriages."
"Same-sex partners of military service members should not be denied essential benefits because of who they are," she said.
Shaheen reported there are more than 100 benefits granted to service members, veterans and their families contingent on marital status. The proposed bill, she said, would extend some of those benefits to the families of same-sex couples, including access to the military health care program, funding to allow a service member's spouse to accompany him or her when he or she is assigned to a new duty station, and "surviving compensation for the spouse of a deceased service member." - Sea Coast Online, 2/16/13
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this week that gay and lesbian couples would be receiving an extended array of benefits by this fall:
http://www.gaystarnews.com/...
With his tenure as US Defense Secretary nearly over, Leon Panetta on Monday (11 February) announced that gay and lesbian military personnel and their families will begin receiving an extended array of benefits by this fall.
Those benefits include such things as identification cards, joint duty assignments, exemption from hostile fire areas, emergency leave, child care, legal assistance, commissary privileges, and morale, welfare, and recreation programs.
'It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country,' Panetta said in a lengthy statement. - Gay Star News, 2/12/13
Shaheen wants to guarantee all gay and lesbian military couples are granted all the same benefits that heterosexual couples in the military receive and the Charlie Morgan Act would do just that:
"Every individual that provides for our defense deserves the peace of mind that comes with knowing that one's family will be taken care of should the worst happen,' Shaheen said. 'No one should ever have to go through what Charlie and her family had to go through.' - Gay Star News, 2/15/13
Well said Senator. You can call Shaheen's office to get more details on the Charlie Morgan Act and then get in touch with your Senator and urge them to support Shaheen's legislation:
(202) 224-2841
And if you are a New Hampshire resident, you can contact any one of her local offices:
Manchester: (603) 647-7500
Claremont: (603) 542-4872
Nashua: (603) 883-0196
Dover: (603) 750-3004
Berlin: (603) 752-6300
Keene: (603) 358-6604
Shaheen has been very successful in looking out for women and gay and lesbian servicemen and we need to keep her in the Senate. If you would like to thank Senator Shaheen's for her continued work to extend benefits for gay and lesbian servicemen, you can donate to her 2014 re-election campaign:
https://secure.actblue.com/...