US military couple’s fight for gay rights
As the US stands on the brink of a landmark moment for gay rights, Channel 4 News speaks to a military couple whose lives could be drastically changed by the supreme court rulings.
After a brief period of dating it was another 10 years before Shannon and Casey finally reconnected and like many 21st century couples they found each other again online – through Facebook to be precise.
Once reunited, they knew that they were “meant to be together”. They married, and soon after had their twins Grant and Grace.
The arrival of two babies had its own implications. Twins meant the birth was a high risk procedure and medically speaking the hospital that was best equipped to serve the pregnancy was over the state line in Rhode Island, where their marriage was not recognised.
Shannon and Casey had to get a court order to ensure that Shannon could carry her children out of the hospital in the event that anything happened to Casey.
This experience was the start of a long struggle, to be recognised as a married couple with the same rights as any other. It’s a struggle which has seen the pair become the lead plaintiffs in a case against Shannon’s employer – the US Department of Defence.
Shannon, who has served in the armed forces for 15 years, recalls the “Don’t ask don’t tell policy”, which meant that she was unable to tell people that she was a lesbian, despite being married.
‘Disrespectful’
“At first we had to keep our marriage a secret for fear of being discharged and losing my job … I just always though it was very disrespectful to my marriage to have to pretend that Casey wasn’t there.”
The US Army repealed the policy in 2011, however the family are still not entitled to live on the army base if Shannon is deployed overseas. Also if anything happens to Shannon whilst she is fighting for her country Casey is not entitled to health insurance or compensation to handle the families daily living expenses.
Day to day Casey cannot get an ID card to be on the base without Shannon, which makes taking the twins to doctors appointments difficult and she is also not allowed to use the military shop or recreational facilities.
Most significant of all for the couple, is the fact that if Shannon were to die her pension would be taxed. This is not the case for heterosexual military couples who are tax exempt. The tax is a significant amount and would have a lasting effect on their savings.
‘Same struggles’ as any family
It’s an issue which is being debated in the supreme court this week in a hearing on the defense of marriage act (Doma).
Doma, was passed in 1996 and is a federal law that restricts certain benefits so they only apply to heterosexual couples. The Doma hearing has been preceded by another on the proposition 8a ruling which bans same sex marriage in the state of California.
Shannon and Casey are waiting for the outcomes of these hearings, which are expected in June, with great anticipation as the result could influence their own case dramatically.
The couple are positive as public sentiment seems to be shifting. High profile figures, who were previously tight lipped on the issue, such as Hilary Clinton have recently come out in favour of equal rights for gay married couples. A recent Washington post-ABC poll put support at 58 per cent.
As supreme court judges discuss the intricacies of the debate, in Casey’s mind the argument is clear: “I want Americans to know that we are a military family, we are the same as any other military family.
“We have the same struggles, the same hopes and dreams for our children, we want the same entitlements that Shannon has spent 15 years earning.”
Kat Hayes is based in Washington DC for Channel 4 News.