House Armed Services Committee member and U.S. Congressman Adam Smith (WA-9) recently introduced a bill designed to ensure equality of benefits and treatment for all military and veteran spouses - regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identification.

The Military Spouse Equal Treatment Act of 2012 was introduced by Smith to add a "definition of spouse for purposes of military personnel policies and military and veteran benefits to reflect new State definitions of spouse."

"It's a straightforward bill," said Smith, "and an important issue. The rights of all of our Servicemembers and their spouses regardless of whether they are the same-sex or opposite-sex as the Servicemember, are protected. Spouses should be afforded the same benefits regardless."

The idea for the bill originated with the recent passing of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and aims to amend the United States code. It reads in part that "an individual shall be considered a ‘spouse' if the marriage of the individual is valid in the state in which the marriage was entered into."

"It's a logical extension of the repeal," said the Congressman. "It will clarify big issues of enforcing the repeal, and it will no longer be an issue. Providing the same benefits will answer many questions. Further, because of the current definition of a spouse, many don't have access to the commissary or to the same healthcare benefits (afforded) members of the opposite sex who are legally married."

Currently, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) limits same-sex couples' military benefits. Also, Washington state's domestic partnership laws include provisions for hospital visitation, participation in medical care decisions and access to healthcare information. It also provides for administration of a deceased partner's estate and the right to inherit property and to administer estates in the absence of a will. The state's same-sex laws will also be put to the ballot in the November general elections. 

"Many people will try to get in the way of making this happen," said Smith with regard to his proposed bill in Congress. "(There are those) in the House that aren't supportive and it's difficult to move it along, but I wanted to get it out there and get things started. I see this as equal protection and equal treatment for those openly serving in the military. This bill will make it illegal to create situations where they get second-class treatment."

The states that presently recognize same-sex marriage are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York and the District of Columbia. Broad domestic partnerships laws are enacted in California, Oregon, Nevada, Wisconsin, Maine and D.C. Many of these states also recognize civil unions.

If approved, the bill will require that the DoD, VA and other entities recognize any marriage that has been recognized by a state, the District of Columbia, commonwealths, territories or possessions and provide the same benefits to spouses of all Servicemembers.