Posted on 10/18/2006 9:24:23 AM PDT by XR7
WASHINGTON — Gerry Studds, the nation's first openly gay congressman, pushed the country to another landmark development when he died Saturday — the federal government, for perhaps the first time, will deny death benefits to a congressman's gay spouse.
The federal government does not recognize the 2004 marriage between Studds and Dean Hara, providing a high-profile demonstration of the limitations of Massachusetts' gay marriage law — while highlighting maneuvering in Washington that has neutralized it and similar state laws.
"A gay spouse will not receive any sort of pension or annuity or anything like that," said Chad Cowan, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which administers the congressional pension program under federal law.
He added, "It's not anything that anybody in our office has seen before."
Wives and husbands of deceased lawmakers have for years found financial comfort in their ability to collect more than half of the generous congressional pension earned by their late spouses. Long-serving members of Congress can retire with up to 80 percent of their highest salary.
When Studds died from a vascular illness Saturday, he was receiving an estimated annual pension of $114,337, according to the National Taxpayers Union, which studies federal pensions.
If Hara was a woman — rather than a same-sex spouse — he would receive $62,000 a year from Studds' pension program under the congressional retirement system, the union said.
Although similar state benefits are provided to same-sex spouses within Massachusetts, the state's gay marriage law is left toothless outside the commonwealth by a federal law passed in 1996 known as the Defense of Marriage Act.
It supersedes any state initiative legalizing gay marriage, and declares that federal benefits normally passed along to surviving spouses are limited to "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife."
The federal law, passed 10 years ago in response to a never-realized movement in Hawaii to legalize gay marriage, sat idle for years — until Massachusetts became the first state in the nation allowing gay people to marry.
The federal law kicked into action, preventing gay spouses from receiving Social Security benefits, school scholarships, health care, veterans benefits and other financial privileges offered through marriage.
Still, the federal law's reach was largely invisible to the national eye, affecting only a portion of the 12,000 same-sex newlyweds in Massachusetts.
The Studds case, however, could provide Congress with a vivid example of how the law affects "one of their own," said Gary Buseck, legal director of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.
"We'd been hoping at some point Congress would address the inequities" in the law, Buseck said. "There are plenty of people being impacted. But this is the first time right in the congressional family a distinguished member is being treated differently than other members."
Melissa Wagoner, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the senior Democrat on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said, "It's wrong for our laws to deny any American the basic right to be part of a family and to be free from the stain of bigotry and discrimination."
When Studds died, Hara said his husband fought to advance the "last great civil rights chapter in modern American history," adding that he didn't see the "final sentences written."
Hara declined to comment when reached at his home Monday.
Arline Isaacson, co-chairman of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said Hara "shouldn't have to wonder" about receiving his husband's pension benefits.
"He should be able to focus on grieving, not on the discrimination perpetrated against him," she said, adding that his eligibility for the pension benefits "should be automatic."
The pension benefits are automatic for lawmakers caught misbehaving — a fact noted by the National Taxpayers Union, which has sought unsuccessfully to strip lawmakers' financial benefits when they're convicted of a felony.
U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, the Ohio Republican who pled guilty Friday to conspiracy charges and faces up to 10 years in prison for taking bribes from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, will receive about $29,000 a year from his pension — for the rest of his life.
"He will receive a pension while in prison," said NTU spokesman Sam Batkins.
What an outrage!
Members of Congress should not get a dime when they retire.
Such a pension is why our founders were against "titles of nobility." A six-figure, taxpayer-financed pension is the same as conferring a title of nobility - with members of Congress being our very own class of Lords, who live in luxury at the expense of the toiling classes. Homo or not, this guy's paramour does not deserve a dime - nor did his Lordship, Studds. Nor does any member of Congress. They are all bloated and overpaid. They enjoy the life of princes during their terms. When they are done - good riddance!
"a congressman's gay spouse"
The surviving partner was and is not his spouse.
Gerry Studds died? I missed the news over the weekend.
Why was he still getting three times what I make?
Why are people who set their own benefits, salary, etc... allowed to decide themselves what they get.
I hate government.
Butt buddy?
Ohh I agree!!!! Especially when you think about how a large number of them are already millionaires when they get into office. It is no longer about public service it's become about power, prestige, and cold hard cash.
His husband? (snort) Does that mean Studds was the lil woman?
Making it all the more attractive to those inside the commonwealth
FWIW, similar article.
Finally...some sanity!! The GAY MAN is NOT a SPOUSE...he's a BOYFRIEND. And the thought that Studds got such a HUGE YEARLY paycheck, that sickens me.
I predict that if the partner sues in federal court he will win. Premises have consequences. This is just one of many. Welcome to life under black-robed rulers.
Implies that this is the first time Congress has dared to do this.
Gee. Wonder how many "openly homosexual" former "spouses" of dead gay Congressmen receiving pensions there are?
Watch for our Congress to pass a law to correct this oversight.
I dunno ... he supposedly always stood behind his work.
The annual pension is then reduced by 10% to pay for that annuity if an dwhen the retiree dies.
Millions of people out there are not getting dependent pensions because, lo and behold, the retiree didn't elect to provide them with one.
I doubt Studds applied for a dependent's annuity.
Excuse me, but WTF does Bob Ney have to do with this article? The MSM just can't resist.
"The surviving partner was and is not his spouse."
not in all the states he's not, and not to all the taxpayers who pick up that bill
You're exactly right. Why should a retired Congressman get a pension that's twice the average pay of a working person? And if Studds had married a woman in 2004, instead of entering this pseudo-marriage, she would have been entitled to more than $62,000/year for life (with cost-of-living increases) for a two-year marriage.
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