Reprinted from Government Executive.com (http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42979&dcn=todaysnews)
By Alyssa Rosenberg arosenberg@govexec.com June 17, 2009
President Obama on Wednesday directed the Office of Personnel Management to extend long-term care benefits and family and parental leave to the same-sex partners of gay and lesbian federal employees, and ordered agencies to conduct internal reviews to identify other benefits that they could extend as well.
Obama stopped short of granting employees’ domestic partners access to health care benefits, saying he legally could not do so, but endorsed legislation that would provide such benefits.
The legislation, known as the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (H.R. 2517) is currently under consideration on Capitol Hill.
Obama also backed a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the government from offering full domestic partner benefits.
In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry characterized Obama’s memo as “a first step, not a final step. This is an attempt to get our federal house in order…. I think the gay community, of which I am a member, can be extremely proud that this administration is with us and stands with us on the core issues that we care deeply about.”
The memo mentions two specific governmentwide benefits for civil servants: the long-term care insurance program and the right to use sick leave to care for an ailing partner or nonbiological, nonadoptive children. It also lists a number of other benefits for the partners of State Department employees. Obama directed OPM and State to move immediately to provide those benefits.
The memorandum also directs department and agency heads to begin internal reviews to determine if they can offer additional benefits to gay and lesbian employees. Berry conducted such a review as an assistant secretary in the Interior Department during the Clinton administration. It led to the expansion of relocation benefits and counseling services to the domestic partners of Interior employees and the elimination of provisions of the National Park Service’s law enforcement standards, including a ban on security clearances for gay and lesbian employees.
Obama gave OPM 90 days to issue guidance on how agencies should implement civil service laws offering protection against discrimination. Berry said the guidance would make clear that in addition to sexual orientation, gender expression and identity cannot provide a basis for discrimination in employment.
