Legislators said they would no longer defend statute banning veterans in same-sex marriages to claim military benefits

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

House Republican leaders have indicated they will drop their opposition to statutes similar to the Defense of Marriage Act, in a major victory for gay rights campaigners

In a court filing on Thursday leaders said they would no longer defend a statute that does not allow veterans in same-sex marriages to claim military benefits.

The move, which was first reported by Buzzfeed, was hailed as "historic" by campaigners. The Republicans' about turn comes three weeks after the supreme court ruled that Doma was was wrong to deny equal rights to gay married couples.

Lawyers for the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which is controlled by Republicans, backed off from another same sex marriage battle on Thursday in a Massachusetts case brought by Major Shannon McLaughlin, a judge advocate general in Massachusetts Army National Guard and her wife Casey.

McLaughlin is challenging two statutes in Title 38 of the US Code regarding veterans' benefits. The statutes define "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex", meaning those in same sex marriages could be refused the same benefits as a heterosexual married couple.

The House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group had been defending both Section 3 of Doma, which was overturned when the supreme court ruled in favour of Edie Windsor in June, and Title 38.

Lawyers for the Republican-controlled group wrote on Thursday: "[T]he House has determined, in light of the supreme court's opinion in Windsor, that it no longer will defend that statute."

In a statement quoted by Buzzfeed, the president of the Human Rights Campaign said the move was "historic".

"After millions of taxpayer dollars wasted defending discrimination, it's a historic sign of the times that the House leadership is dropping its pointless quest to maintain second-class status for lesbian and gay couples," HRC president Chad Griffin said.

The mood among same-sex marriage supporters was dampened, however, with the news that the Justice Department will continue to oppose the McLaughlin's case against Title 38, on procedural grounds.

Lawyers for the department gave two reasons for the opposition, arguing that "no plaintiff has sufficiently alleged that he or she has applied for or would be entitled to veterans' benefits but for the definitional provisions in Title 38".

The department added that there is already an exclusive review scheme for processing challenges to veterans benefits under the Veterans Judicial Review Act.