Reported by the HRC (and, yes, there appears to be at least one typographical error in the story):
http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Th...tentDisplay.cfm

FBI Rescinds Health Benefits for Gay Agent's Partner
Laura Walsh, Associated Press, July 28, 2004

The FBI has rescinded health benefits that had been provided to the same-sex partner of a special agent since just after the couple wed in Massachusetts in May.

Katy Gossman, a special agent with the FBI in New Haven, received an e-mail from the bureau informing her that her wife, Kristin, would be removed from her health plan. The Connecticut couple were married in Worcester, Mass. on May 20 and had been receiving spousal benefits since May 30, Katy Gossman said.

The Gossmans were married just three days after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts, and are among eight couples who have filed a lawsuit challenging a 1913 law that was used to block other out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

After their small marriage ceremony, the Gossmans returned to their Meriden home and Katy immediately filled out a health benefits seeking benefits for Kristin, whom she listed as her spouse. She sent the form and a copy of her marriage license to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"I didn't try to hide it," Katy, 40, said Tuesday.

The New Haven office called over to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. to give them a "heads up" about the situation, she said. She received a form back from the Human Resources Department in Washington approving the benefits.

FBI spokesman Bill Carter said Tuesday the approval had been a mistake and an oversight, and noted that the agency receives thousands of benefit requests each day.

The U.S. government does not allow same-sex spousal benefits, and only recognizes marriages between a man and a woman, Carter said.

"When the form was submitted, it had been granted, not realizing that it was this situation, but then after further determination, after rechecking it, it was determined that the person would not be eligible for the benefits based on OPM regulations," he said.

Kristin Gossman, 38, is a full-time student and had no health benefits before their marriage, Katy Gossman said.

Same-sex weddings began taking place in Massachusetts on May 17 after the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November that gay and lesbian couples had a right to wed under the state constitution. Massachusetts is the first state to sanction same-sex marriages, and thousands of couples, some of whom have traveled across the country, have already exchanged vows there.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has said that state law does not allow for same-sex marriages, but he declined to say whether Connecticut will recognize marriage licenses issued to gay couples in Massachusetts.

As more couples marry and are confronted by legal barriers similar to those the Gossmans face, individual states are going to have to stand up and address the issues more clearly, said Paul Martinek, editor of Lawyers Weekly USA.

Same-sex couples grapple with issues of inheritance, tax, divorce and adoption, he said. On a federal level, same-sex couples are also not allowed to file joint tax returns - an issue that could make it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, Martinek said.

The Gossmans said they are disappointed and are reviewing their options, but have not decided whether to fight the FBI's decision.

"Kristin's not working and she's a student. I'm financially responsible for her and I'm her spouse. The fact that I can't do that, not because I can't, but because I'm not allowed to do that, is disturbing," Katy Gossman said.

Apparently someone in the administration forgot to issue the "how to ensure homosexual couples are discriminated against" guidelines when the Massachusetts marriages began. What, did the Bush administration just assume no federal employees would actually get married?

Especially not any from Ashcrack's Justice Department.