Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration will confer federal marital benefits on more than 1,000 same-sex couples married in Utah before such unions were put on hold this week by the Supreme Court.
"For the purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a video posted on the Justice Department's website.
Holder's action applies to same-sex couples who were married during a 2 1/2-week period between a federal judge's decision overturning a state ban on those unions and a Jan. 6 order from the Supreme Court that put the decision on hold.
Paul Mero, president of the Salt Lake City-based Sutherland Institute, a policy group opposed to same-sex marriage, said Holder "continues to politicize an issue that should be settled according to the rule of law in the courts."
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