Exxon To Offer Benefits To Same-Sex Couples

Oil company Exxon will begin offering benefits to legally married same-sex couples beginning October 1. In legalizing “all legal marriages” Exxon is doing the right thing, the only hangup being that many states still don’t offer legal marriages to same-sex couples.

Exxon Mobil Corp., which is facing a same-sex discrimination lawsuit in Illinois, said Friday it was following the lead of the U.S. government. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. And in recent months, federal agencies have begun to offer benefits to legally-married same sex couples.

“We haven’t changed our eligibility criteria. It has always been to follow the federal definition and it will continue to follow the federal definition,” said Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers in an interview.

By: Cheston Catalano

Cheston Catalano is a Kentucky-based journalist whose work has been featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle. He is a long-time contributor to Liberaland.