No Death Benefits for Studds's Spouse
Wednesday, October 18, 2006; A19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701263_pf.html
BOSTON, Oct. 17 -- The federal government has refused to pay death
benefits to the spouse of former congressman Gerry E. Studds
(D-Mass.), the first openly gay member of Congress.
Studds married Dean Hara in 2004 after same-sex marriage was legalized
in Massachusetts. But Hara will not be eligible to receive any portion
of Studds's estimated $114,337 annual pension because the 1996 Defense
of Marriage Act bars the federal government from recognizing Studds's
marriage.
Peter Graves, a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management,
which administers the congressional pension program, said same-sex
partners are not recognized as spouses for any marriage benefits. He
said Studds's case is the first of its kind known to the agency.
Under federal law, pensions can be denied only to lawmakers' same-sex
partners and to people convicted of espionage or treason, Graves said.
The homosexuality of Studds was exposed during a teenage-page sex
scandal in 1983. He died Saturday at 69, several days after collapsing
while walking his dog. Doctors said he had developed two blood clots.
Graves said Studds could have purchased an insurable interest annuity,
similar to an insurance policy, which is allowed under both the civil
service and the federal-employee retirement system and is not affected
by the Defense of Marriage Act. Graves said he did not know whether
Studds used that option.
Peter J. Sepp, spokesman for the nonprofit watchdog group National
Taxpayers Union, estimated Studds's annual pension at $114,337. That
would have made Hara, 48, eligible for a lifetime annual pension of
about $62,000, which would grow with inflation, if the marriage were
recognized by the federal government, Sepp said.
Hara declined to comment.
Gary Buseck, legal director for the group Gay and Lesbian Advocates
and Defenders, said Studds's case may offer "a moment of education for
Congress."
"Now they have a death in the congressional family of one of their
distinguished members whose spouse is being treated differently than
any of their spouses," Buseck said.
In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex
marriage after gay couples successfully sued for the right to marry.
Studds was elected to Congress in 1972. In 1983, a 27-year-old man
disclosed that he and Studds had had a sexual relationship a decade
earlier when he was a congressional page. The House censured Studds,
who revealed on the House floor that he was gay.
Constituents reelected Studds until he retired in 1997 to become a
lobbyist for the fishing industry and environmental causes.
--
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
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