Moving Toward Equality for Federal Employees

Statement on the Domestic Partner Benefits Announcement

SOURCE: AP/Tony Ding

Today's announcement is a step in the right direction for families like this one that rely on domestic parner benefits to provide care and protection for their children and spouse.

By Winnie Stachelberg | June 17, 2009

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Today’s announcement is an important step forward for LGBT federal employees and their families. The presidential memorandum signed today gives domestic partners some of the benefits granted to spouses of federal employees. This memorandum shows the president’s desire to provide equality for federal employees, but it is only a first step.

The president and others in the executive branch should work together with Congress to finish the job by passing measures such as the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, which would truly ensure equal benefits and rights for federal employees.

Read about how the federal government can use states as a model for offering domestic partner benefits:

• One Simple Step for Equality: States Prove that the Federal Government Can Offer Domestic Partner Benefits with Ease

View video and resources from an event on domestic partner benefits:

• Unequal Taxes on Equal Benefits: The Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits