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Should Married Gay Veterans Receive Equal Benefits?

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Submitted By kealaka1
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Should married gay Veterans receive equal benefits?
University of Phoenix
August, 5, 2014

Kealakai Peña

Marriage is a right protected by the United States Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment allows American citizens entitlement to life, liberty, property, and equal protection under the law. By denying gay couples the right of marriage, laws that ban gay marriage also deny them these constitutional rights. These laws would deny gay couples the right to life and liberty by denying them the lifestyle that they want to live. It would deny them property by banning them from jointly owning property together as a married couple. Finally, it denies them equal protection under the law by stopping them from entering into a partnership based solely on their sexual orientation.
The Fourteenth Amendment allows all citizens of the US the entitlement to life, liberty, property, and equal protection under the law. The sole right of marriage is protected under the United States Constitution. Denying same-sex married veterans would be denying their right to life and liberty. This denies them property by banning them from jointly owning property together as a married couple.
A prime example of denying benefits to married gay veterans would be when the Wilkinson’s required a $175,000 bank loan from the Veterans Affairs, a department that provides to active-duty members and veterans. When the 32-year-old veteran was single, he was qualified for a $200,000 in loan guarantees, but when he got married the VA would only give back half of what he qualified for. “They are actually penalizing me for getting married,” Wilkinson said. His rights have just been denied to him.

The VA does not recognize married same-sex couples unless they live in or have lived in a state that does recognize same-sex marriage during the time of marriage. Nevada does not, however a case is pending in a federal appeals court that could possibly change that.
Both married veteran and non-veteran couples are receiving discrimination from the government and the VA. It does not end there, this issue cannot be fixed in the VA itself, but the by the government. The idea of fixing the issues of married same-sex veterans is absolutely ridiculous. Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Las Vegas, is trying her best to get Congress to act. “We’re making the argument that if you’re a veteran, you put on a uniform, you deserve the same rights as every other veteran, and your family deserves the same benefits as every other veteran’s family,” Titus said. She introduced legislation that requires the VA to recognize any marriage that has been recognized by any state.
These married same-sex veterans are being denied protection under the law by stopping them from entering a partnership based on their sexual preference. The VA does not recognize same-sex couples unless they are recognized by the state whatever state it is.
The sad facts about married same-sex veteran couples are overwhelming. The very Constitution that protects the rights of all veteran couples is being denied by the very place that is obligated to guarantee those entitlements that an opposite-sex veteran couple would have. This is exactly the opposite of what the Constitution obligates and therefore a violation of the Constitution. By violating the Constitution the VA is indirectly telling married or about to be married same-sex veteran couples that they should not engage in a legal union, implying discrimination.
References
References
Phillips, A. (2014). Married gay veterans’ next battle is for equal VA benefits. Retrieved from http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/aug/03/married-gay-veterans-next-battle-equal-va-benefits/
Driscoll, Sally, and Alexander Stingl. “Counterpoint: Same-Sex Marriage is Both a Constitutional and Human Right.” Points of View Reference Center 2011: n.pag. Ebscohost. Web. 16 June 2012.

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