On Monday, June 29, VA issued the following statement:

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state. Therefore, VA may recognize the same-sex marriage of all Veterans, where the Veteran or the Veteran’s spouse resided anywhere in the United States or its territories at the time of the marriage or at the time of application for benefits.

VA will work quickly to ensure that all offices and employees are provided guidance on implementing this important decision with respect to all programs, statutes, and regulations administered by VA. Until this guidance has been issued, VA will temporarily wait to adjudicate all claims regarding same-sex marriage that cannot be immediately granted based on prior guidance.

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4 Comments

  1. DannyG July 15, 2015 at 19:01

    They won’t allow 18-yr-olds to drink on base, but they allow this! I love my country, but it sure is going thriu some changes.

  2. Jose Ferrer July 8, 2015 at 20:16

    Times are really changing. According to the bible the marriage is between a man and a woman, not the filth of Sodom and Gomorrah which disliked the Lord and destroyed. But God does not hate these people but do hates their sin.

    I am a proud veteran but if it was today that I would make a decision to join the Army, I would not do it if they would go against the bible.

  3. Thomas Preuss July 1, 2015 at 11:28

    The VA comment above states: “VA MAY recognize the same-sex marriage of all Veterans” Does this mean that the VA MAY NOT recognize the same-sex marriage of all Veterans?

  4. Shannon Challender June 30, 2015 at 13:02

    My interpretation of this ruling is not that the states have to perform marriages for same sex, but they have to acknowledge them from other states.

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