The United States government plans to expand recognition of same-sex marriages in federal legal matters, including bankruptcies, prison visits and survivor benefits, CNN reported.
Under the new policy, the Justice Department will recognize that same-sex spouses of individuals involved in civil and criminal cases should have the same legal rights as all other married couples, including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouses, according to CNN.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will issue a memo Monday that recognizes same-sex marriages "to the greatest extent possible under the law," according to CNN.
The federal expansion will include 34 states where same-sex marriage isn't legal, but the new federal benefits being extended to those states will apply only where the U.S. government has jurisdiction, Holder said, CNN reported.
Holder's announcement was revealed in an advance copy of a Saturday night speech at the Human Rights Campaign's gala in New York City, according to CNN. On its blog, the advocacy group cheered what it called a "landmark announcement" that it "will change the lives of countless committed gay and lesbian couples for the better."
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, criticized what he called the latest move by President Barack Obama's administration "to undermine the authority and sovereignty of the states to make their own determinations regulating the institution of marriage," CNN reported.
"The American public needs to realize how egregious and how dangerous these usurpations are and how far-reaching the implications can be," Brown said in a statement, according to CNN. "The changes being proposed here to a process as universally relevant as the criminal justice system serve as a potent reminder of why it is simply a lie to say that redefining marriage doesn't affect everyone in society."
The move will affect how millions of Americans interact with their federal government, including bankruptcy cases, prison visitation rights, survivor benefits for police officers and firefighters killed on the job, and the legal right to refuse to testify to incriminate a spouse, CNN reported.
"This means that, in every courthouse, in every proceeding, and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States -- they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law," Holder said of his initiative, according to CNN.
