Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in U.S. v. Windsor, legally married couples living in 38 of the 50 states remain vulnerable to discrimination under federal law.
When determining an individual's marital status, some federal agencies refer to the marriage laws of the person's state of residence, whereas others refer to the law of the state where a marriage was celebrated. Using the criteria of the state of residence would deprive many same-sex couples of rights conferred by federal law.
We petition President Obama to issue an executive order instructing all federal agencies to refer to the law of the state in which a marriage was celebrated when determining marital status for the purposes of federal law.