Guard Commander Asks Texas AG for Legal Opinio

1. The Article

2. Category:  LGBTQ in the Military

3. Level: State 

4. This article pertains to a problem families and individuals face.

5. Why is this important to families/individuals?
It is important because same-sex couples who are in the Texas National Guard are not receiving military benefits since gay marriage is banned in Texas. All married couples must apply for benefits in the military and since gay marriage is not considered "real" in this state there are many questions that need to be addressed. If same-sex couple don't get the benefits a married couple does while being in the military it just becomes an issue for those families because there are many benefits they are being denied of.

6. My views:
I think Greg Abbott should just grant permission to let the applications go through for these couples. It is unfair for our armed forces who are part of the LGBTQ community to be denied of the benefits all the heterosexual couples get, they all work just as hard. I think this is something that should be addressed by the federal government and make gay marriage legal nationwide, we would not have to deal with so many troubles that our LBGTQ citizens have to face daily. I applaud San Antonio for outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation, which I thought was something that was universal, and perhaps the GOP should take notes on this. Texas is not the great state everyone says it is and one the biggest reasons why that is true is because the representatives of this state cannot open their eyes and see the reality that things are changing and it is time for some change in this state. Our armed forces should not be denied of the benefits the government offers them just because they married a same- sex person many heterosexuals abuse these rights, and I know people who are in the military and got married because of these benefits, but these couples who married because they wanted to and were brave to go against what this state thinks get turned away? This is absurd and should be addressed soon.