We referred Monday to a New York Times story over the weekend that predicted benefits for same-sex military partners might face some tough sledding once “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is relegated to the history books. Tuesday’s Norfolk Virginian-Pilot details just how such benefits can be abused:
Two men pleaded guilty Monday to arranging three phony marriages, including one with a Navy doctor, so they and their wives could get more pay and health care benefits and so they could conceal their sexual orientations from the Navy. The men, long-time live-in boyfriends, received tens of thousands of dollars in benefits they weren’t entitled to. Charges against the Navy doctor, Cmdr. Jeanette F. Shimkus of Chesapeake, are pending. According to the indictment, she needed to conceal her lesbian relationship in order to name her girlfriend as a beneficiary to her life insurance.