WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced Wednesday that it would begin offering benefits to the same-sex spouses of military personnel and other employees by early September, in response to the Supreme Court decision that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.
Under the plan, spousal and family benefits — including health care coverage, housing allowances and survivor benefits — will be available to all legally married military spouses. The same-sex spouses of service members and civilian Defense Department employees can claim the entitlements retroactively, starting with the date of the decision.
"The Department of Defense remains committed to ensuring that all men and women who serve in the U.S. military, and their families, are treated fairly and equally," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wrote in a memo released by the Pentagon.
To be eligible, couples must provide a marriage certificate "that is valid in the place of celebration." The Pentagon said it would grant leave to those who need to travel to a jurisdiction where same-sex marriage is recognized by law in order to get married. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage.
"This 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," Mr. Hagel said.
Under the policy, personnel stationed within the continental United States will be granted up to seven days of leave to travel to a state where marriage is legal, while those outside the United States may receive up to 10 days of leave.
When a draft of the policy including this provision was released recently, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, took issue with what he called the "preferential treatment" shown by the policy toward same-sex couples.
"Military leave is granted by statute, and while there are special provisions in law for adoptions, childbirth and emergency situations, to my knowledge there are no special provisions for marriage, same-sex or otherwise," he said in a statement last week.
The Pentagon announced in February that it would grant some benefits to the committed same-sex partners of service members, less than two years after President Obama ended the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and one year after the administration said it would not defend the constitutionality of laws blocking same-sex spouses of military personnel from receiving benefits.
Under the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the Pentagon could not offer full benefits to same-sex partners of its personnel, who are federal employees. It withheld health care coverage and some other entitlements, saying it would re-evaluate the situation should the law change.
"In the event that the Defense of Marriage Act is no longer applicable to the Department of Defense, it will be the policy of the department to construe the words 'spouse' and 'marriage' without regard to sexual orientation, and married couples, irrespective of sexual orientation, and their dependents will be granted full military benefits," Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said at the time.
A spokesman for the Defense Department said Wednesday that it did not have an estimate of how many people are expected to gain benefits under the new plan.
In February, officials estimated that about 17,000 military personnel and veterans would apply for partial benefits for their domestic partners, 5,600 of whom were active-duty service members.
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