Obama admin urges court to dismiss gay lawsuit

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The Obama administration has urged a US court to dismiss a lawsuit by gay married couples from Massachusetts who say they were unlawfully denied federal marriage benefits.

President Barack Obama won strong support from gays during his presidential campaign and has pressed for repealing the 1996 Defence of Marriage Act that bars the federal government from recognising same-sex marriages.

But the gay community has been angered by the Obama administration's defence of the law in court proceedings. Justice Department officials say they are obligated to defend federal statutes when they are challenged.

"In making this filing, the department is bound by the only precedent that exists, which is that no court has found such a right to federal benefits based upon marital status to be constitutionally required," said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

The filing in the US Court for the District of Massachusetts "points out the administration's position that Congress should extend federal benefits to spouses in same-sex marriages," she said.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalise same-sex marriages but those couples cannot access federal protections and programmes granted to heterosexual married couples, prompting legal challenges.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of seven same-sex couples and three survivors of same-sex spouses, says it is unconstitutional to bar them from enrolling in federal healthcare programmes, receiving certain retirement and survivor benefits and filing joint income tax returns.

"No court has found such a right to federal benefits to be fundamental – and the federal courts that have considered the question in the context of DOMA (Defence of Marriage Act) itself have rejected such a claim," the Justice Department said in the filing.

The department urged that the lawsuits be dismissed because their claims either were without merit or the individuals did not have a legal right to sue.

Obama in June extended a few benefits, including opening the government's long-term care insurance to gay partners of federal employees and allowing federal employees to use their sick leave to tend to a gay partner or the partner's children.

Massachusetts in July sued the US government to seek federal benefits for about 16,000 same-sex couples who have been married in the state.

- Reuters