the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

Tuesday, 3 September 2013, was the first day we US military perverts could get our same-sex spouses official dependent ID cards. Mich and I had an appointment for 3:30. It was only that late because I taught that day and couldn't get away to pick her up at the gate until almost 3. 

When we went in, we were told that the system had been going down for the last hour or more, and if they began processing anyone's card, the system could go back down in the middle and not only would they not have their new card, but the card they currently had would no longer work. I said, "No problem. I'm just signing her up." 

SSgt Dude: Oh. OK. Is she your daughter? 

Me: |-|...She's my wife. 

SSgt Dude: Oh. :oops: Well...if we start processing her ID and the system goes down, she'll lose her current ID...oh. 

Me: Right, then. We'll take our chances. 

He was very nice and professional. After he finished copying all our documents and making her ID, his coworker ran a check to make sure she had been granted all the benefits I had, including Serviceman's Group Life Insurance. The record showed that Mich had not gotten any of these benefits. They started trying to work out why. First, they thought that the date of our wedding in the system--for military purposes--had to be 26 June 13 (the day the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act) instead of the actual date on our marriage license. 

Nope. That wasn't it. You know what seems to be the glitch? 

We got married in Canada. That's right. Being the rebels we are, we were legally wed in a country we knew respected and would continue to respect our marriage instead of taking our chances with individual states back home where the laws are prone to fluctuate, and the military system does not recognize it. It only recognizes the 13 states who have legalized same-sex marriage and the District of Columbia. No country outside the US has yet been added to the system. 

Excuse me, but...88| This means that same-sex marriages from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and Uruguay are still not recognized in the military DEERS* system.  

* Stands for something having to do with dependents. 

Apparently, this goes clear up to the Department of Defense level. They'll figure it out. 

So with her shiny new dependent ID card in tow, Mich and I celebrated with a nice meal at California Pizza Kitchen. 

***

Turns out, the only thing that didn't "take" was her Serviceman's Group Life Insurance (which she gets automatically for having tied the knot with an active duty person), and that's because the VA handles that. 

We went in first thing this morning to sign her up for Tricare Prime. On the way into the building, we were joking back and forth as we are wont to do, and a passing man told Mich to be more respectful of her mother. 

I'm starting to get worried. :-/

In the clinic, we learned that she has (presumably) had Tricare Standard (insurance with some copays, I think) retroactive to 26 June, so she can claim reimbursement for medical bills incurred in the interim. She'll be on Tricare Prime (and full dental coverage) as of 1 Oct 13, though. :D

Y'know what, though? She's official! 

w0000000h00000000!!!! :))

d