Tag Archives: Attorney General

Maura Healey is Elected USA’s First Openly Gay Attorney General

Democrat Maura Healey has won the race for Massachusetts attorney general, topping Republican John Miller to become the nation’s first openly gay candidate elected to the top law enforcement job.

Healey has spent seven years in the attorney general’s office and was the former chief of the civil rights division.

She said she had the experience to do the job and will hit the ground running.

Healey is best known in the LGBT community for her work as assistant attorney general on the Massachusetts challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, a lawsuit complementary to one led by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

US Federal Government Recognises Same-Sex Marriage in Six More States

The US federal government has recognised gay marriage in six more states and extended federal benefits to those couples.

Attorney General Eric Holder said on Saturday.

“With each new state where same-sex marriages are legally recognized, our nation moves closer to achieving full equality for all Americans.”

Eric Holder, Attorney General

 Gay marriage recently became legal in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The government’s announcement follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to decline to hear appeals from five states that sought to keep their marriage bans in place. It brings the total number of states with federal recognition of gay marriage to 32, plus the District of Columbia. Couples married in these states will qualify for a range of federal benefits, including Social Security and veterans’ benefits.

The attorney general also said the government is working “as quickly as possible” to make sure same-sex married couples in these states receive the “fullest array of benefits” that federal law allows.

The Justice Department also has determined that it can legally recognize gay marriages performed this summer in Indiana and Wisconsin after federal courts declared marriage bans in the states unconstitutional. Subsequent developments created confusion about the status of those unions, but Holder said the U.S. government will recognize the marriages.