June 26, 2013 the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that denies legally married same-sex couples more than 1,100 protections and responsibilities of marriage. The Supreme Court basically said all loving and committed couples that marry deserve equal legal respect and treatment.

Last month Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced same-sex couples were able to obtain Defense Department identification cards in every state.

Under regulations to be published in Monday's Federal Register, the Defense Department will formally recognize the words "spouse" and "marriage" as including same-sex couples.

The Hill reports:

"DoD is no longer prevented from extending Federal benefits to the same-sex spouses of DoD military members and civilian employees," the agency said in a 114-page notice detailing the regulations.

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