Federal Recognition of Gay Marriage Expanding to Six More States

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Summary: The federal government announced Monday that it has added six more states to its list of states that federally recognizes gay marriage.

Six states have been added to the list of those whose same-sex marriages are recognized by the government of the United States, according to a report from Bloomberg.

  

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The states were added to the list following the decision from the Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriages to continue.

It was announced on Monday by Attorney General Eric Holder that the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages in the following states: Wyoming, West Virginia, North Carolina, Idaho, Arizona and Alaska.

The federal government will also begin recognizing same-sex marriages performed in Wisconsin and Indiana in the month of June, which is when the legal status of same-sex marriages was not clear at the time.

The announcement from the Justice Department comes on the heels of the Supreme Court declining to review court rulings from three federal appeals courts across the country that struck down bans on same-sex marriage.

Seven other states were added to the list last week by the Justice Department in a separate announcement. Those seven states included Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Virginia.

Same-sex spouses married in all of the states listed above qualify for federal benefits from the Social Security Administration and Veterans Affairs because of the announcement from the Justice Department.

The total number of states where same-sex couples are recognized by the federal government is now at 32. The District of Columbia is not included in that count, but is another jurisdiction recognized by the federal government.

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Image credit: Wikipedia