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Obama Orders Veterans' Benefits Extended to Same Sex Married Couples


U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered veterans' benefits extended to same sex married couples.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to Congress that the provision of veterans' benefits laws that defines marriage as between a man and a woman will "cease."

Holder wrote that the Supreme Court's decision declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional also should have applied to veterans' benefits, even if the court did not directly address that issue.

The federal Defense of Marriage Act defined marriage as being between a man and woman. The high court overturned the law in June.
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