Biden administration allows LGBTQ seniors to get Social Security benefits equally

LGBTQ widows whose partners passed away before marriage equality was legal are now officially eligible for social security survivor benefits.

This week, the Biden administration dropped appeals in two class action lawsuits that had been filed by LGBTQ advocates during the Trump era to get the Social Security Administration (SSA) to grant the benefits.

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Lambda Legal had already won both lawsuits in the lower courts.

Typically, a couple must be married for at least nine months to be eligible for survivor’s benefits, but Lambda Legal argued successfully in favor of two widows who were unable to do so because their partners died before marriage equality was legal.

One plaintiff was Helen Thornton, who was denied Social Security survivor benefits after her partner of 27 years passed away in 2006.

U.S. District Judge James Robart of Seattle ordered the SSA to give Thornton the survivor benefits, saying that denying her the benefits violates her constitutional due process and equal protection rights.

The judge recommended a nationwide order requiring SSA to…

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