Equality For All - Or Only Some?

Illinois has recently made it law for same sex couples to be allowed to get married. They became the 15th state to do so. This alone surprises me, because that is not even one third of the country that believes in equality for all. I believe that everyone is the same, it doesn't matter who they like or who they want to marry. This caused me do some research and digging, and I was surprised with some of the things I found.

I found an article that talks about how Texas, among a few other states is refusing to comply with an order from the Defense Secretary of the US that same sex military couples should be given the same federal marriage benefits as heterosexual military spouses. I found this to be astonishing. I believe this to be wrong on so many levels.

First of all, these people are supporting our country and fighting for our country. There is not really a stronger way to promote your patriotism and love for our country than to put your life on the line for it. But, why would they want to be in the military if by doing so it can negatively affect their family? If they have a family in need of marriage benefits, but they aren't getting them because their state isn't willing to provide them just based on the fact they are a same sex couple, why would they want to go support our country? Americans take a lot of pride in our country, and always have. But, if things like this are happening, I wonder if that sense of pride would start to fade for more and more people as time goes on.

The Defense Secretary has been quoted to say that the states not obeying this law are just "further[ing] prejudice". I couldn't agree more. By not encouraging equality, whether it be through marriage, marriage benefits or other means, it just causes a greater riff between groups of people. It would seem to be doing the opposite of what is being promoted in Washington, which is equality for everyone and legalizing gay marriage. I wonder if these few states will stay this way, or give in to legalizing gay marriage and allowing marriage benefits for military couples to all couples, and if so, how it will affect the residents of those states.