Pictured: Helen Thornton (at right) and at left with her partner, Marge BrownSame-sex spouses who were ineligible for Social Security survivor’s benefits because of discriminatory marriage laws can now receive them, thanks to court decisions and the federal government’s withdrawal of its appeals of those rulings.The Social Security Administration and the Department of Justice announced Monday that they were ending the appeals.
U.S. district courts in Arizona and Washington State ruled last year that denial of the benefits was unconstitutional, but the government agencies, under Donald Trump’s administration, appealed to the U.S.