This week, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that same sex couples in civil unions or domestic partnerships will be entitled to the same burial rights as those in marriages. As a press release by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force notes, this is one of the first times that a federal agency has extended spousal benefits to those in civil unions.
The Department of Defense has also spoken about the need to honor LGBT people during Pride Month. As Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said:
They were forced by law to compromise their values. To choose between serving the country they love and … being true to themselves. Today we celebrate that that chapter in our history is now over and increasingly forgotten.
