By Lisa Rein
Days after the Supreme Court ruled that the right to marry must be open to gays, the Department of Veterans Affairs has moved immediately to extend marital benefits to same-sex couples who were denied them — even in states where they were available to other federal retirees.
The new policy lifts restrictions on veterans’ pensions, VA-backed home loans, burial rights, survivor benefits and disability compensation for same-sex married couples in every state, a victory that advocates estimate could affect hundreds of thousands of veterans.
“We are thrilled that they are acting so quickly,” said Chris Rowsee, director of family readiness for the American Military Partners Association, which sued VA last year on behalf of veterans who were denied spousal benefits. The lawsuit was on hold pending the Supreme Court decision.
Other veterans groups praised the new policy as a historic shift in a community whose older 
members were resistant just four years ago to lifting the military’s long-standing ban on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender troops serving openly.
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