Unwed heterosexual couples seek benefits

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Unwed heterosexual couples in the Foreign Service are seeking the same family benefits extended this year to homosexual couples, U.S. officials said.

In June, President Barack Obama gave homosexual spouses of federal employees the same family benefits -- minus health insurance and pension -- that the spouses of heterosexual federal workers receive.

In the Foreign Service, those benefits mean paid travel for the spouse to and from overseas posts; visas and diplomatic passports; emergency medical treatment; and shipment of household possessions.

Unmarried Foreign Service couples argue they are entitled to equal treatment and at least one couple has threatened to file a discrimination suit, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which oversees personnel policies, said it considering an extension to unmarried heterosexual couples, which has angered conservatives opposed to extending benefits to gay couples, said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

"It's a Pandora's box," King told the Times.