In a ruling with far-reaching impact, the US Supreme Court has overturned the law of several states and legalized gay marriage across the nation. Florida began allowing gay marriage earlier this year.
Benefits to gay people in committed relationships will range from the obvious emotional ones to all the economic benefits and rights legally married heterosexual couples have long enjoyed, from spousal pension and retirement, social security spousal and survivor benefits, spousal health care benefits, spousal inheritance rights, health care decision-making rights for a spouse, and on and on.
Along with the universal availability of gay marriage will come the universally recognized right to divorce and, presumably, adopt children.
Read more in
- this Reuters article: Landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizes gay marriage nationwide
- this Global Post article by way of Reuters: Gay marriage’s big benefit is Social Security .