Last month we reported a story about the Obama Administration, through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), refusing to extend health care benefits to the wife of a lesbian that works for courts in California.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Federal Appeals feels that the Federal Health Benefits Act would entitle the spouse to coverage as the couple was legally married in California before Prop 8 passed.  He also feels that with his court being a co-equal branch of government, he is able to decide which benefits are extended to employees and their spouses.

Judge Kozinksi gave OPM thirty days to comply with his order.

Through a statement issued today by Elaine Kaplan, the office’s general counsel, it is now known that the OPM feels that it does not have to comply with the judges order because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996, adding:

“As the President has explained, the Administration believes that this law is discriminatory and needs to be repealed by Congress,”

OPM also feels that since the judge was acting in an administrative role as an employer and that because the ruling was not handed down as part of a court case, they are not required to comply.

Luckily, Congress is taking up the issue of federal benefits for same sex couples.  This case is just one very real example of why there need to be changes to laws.  Congress and the Obama Administration claim to be serious in getting health care for Americans, but existing law prohibits the gay spouses and partners of federal employees from receiving them.

The irony of it all is that OPM is headed by John Berry, an openly gay man and the highest appointed LGBT person in the Obama Administration.

(Photo of Judge Kozinksi courtesy of Joi’s Flickr photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/ / CC BY 2.0)

Tags: California, Congress, DOMA, Gay, Gay Rights, Health Care, Judge Kozinski, LGBT, Obama Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Prop 8, Workplace Benefits