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Utah Social Security Offices Still Denying Married Same-Sex Couples Benefits

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SALT LAKE CITY – Several of the local Social Security offices in Utah are still refusing to issue new Social Security cards to married same-sex couples, despite court rulings requiring them to do so.

Austin and James Vance, Dennis and Matt Gwyther, and Shelie and Ada Ingram have all legally married in Utah, and are entitled to all the benefits and responsibilities that come along with their marriages. But despite court rulings and instructions requiring state and federal agencies to comply and grant same-sex couples their benefits, they are still being rejected.

Austin and James Vance kiss after their wedding in Utah. Photo by David Newkirk

Austin and James Vance share a kiss after getting married. Photo by David Newkirk

Austin and James Vance, who married in December of 2013, say that the Social Security offices’ refusal to issue new social security cards have created huge problems for them, including Austin almost losing a new job when he couldn’t provide a social security card with the same name as his newly-issued drivers license. The couple also says their home loan also almost fell through for the same reason.

The Vances took an audio recording of their in-person visit to the Social Security office in suburban Salt Lake City yesterday. On the recording, the office’s representative says their continued requests haven’t been submitted yet, despite 9 months’ worth of requests to do so. Austin pleads with the clerk, “We have a directive from the Supreme Court, we have a directive from the 10th Circuit, we have a directive from the Governor and Attorney General, the Federal Government has recognized my marriage since January, how can you still be denying us? This is not ok!” The clerk responds “I understand, you’re more than welcome [to file a complaint], but we have no procedures to process these yet and we can’t process them until we get directions from Social Security.”

The Gwythers were given an almost identical response. Legally married back in December, the couple recorded a 20 minute phone call they had with the downtown Salt Lake City branch yesterday afternoon. “We’re still waiting for a final decision and instructions on that,” the clerk can be heard saying. “It’s going to take some time.”

Arnold Astorga, the Social Security representative who denied the Gwythers, tells them the office is “not allowed” to grant benefits to same-sex couples until they are instructed to do so by the attorneys in the regional office. He refuses to give the name or contact information of anyone at the regional office for the Gwythers to call and appeal.

Upon being informed of the situation, John Mejía, Legal Director of the Utah ACLU, said his office may open a new investigation into the situation. “I have no idea why [the same-sex couples] are still being denied.”

Missy Larsen, chief communications officer at the Utah Attorney General’s office, says she’s shocked to hear denials are still happening. “There should be no reason for them to be denied whatsoever,” said Larsen. “[The Utah AG’s office] has no authority over those social security offices, but [U.S. Attorney General Eric] Holder ordered all tax stuff recognized quite a while ago.”

Social Security offices fall under the purview of both the state and the Federal Government, which is what makes the denials so unusual. After SCOTUS’ decision in the Windsor case in June of 2013, all federal agencies were directed to immediately process benefits for legally married couples. 

Shelie and Ada went to the Social Security office in Ogden, Utah, yesterday. Supervisor Scott Schlotz told them that “Upper Management needs to make a decision on how to process the paperwork so that it is legal.” Schlotz refused to give them a time-frame for when the “decision” would be made.

Requests for comment from the Salt Lake City and Ogden Social Security offices went unanswered.

 

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

 

 

Eric Ethington has been specializing in political messaging, communications strategy, and public relations for more than a decade. Originally hailing from Salt Lake City, he now works in Boston for a social justice think tank. Eric’s writing, advocacy work, and research have been featured on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, CNBC, the New York Times, The Telegraph, and The Public Eye magazine. He’s worked as a radio host, pundit, blogger, activist and electoral campaign strategist. He also writes at NuanceStillMatters.com

 

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‘Sick’: Hunger Caucus Head Slams GOP for ‘Starving Children’ by ‘Weaponizing’ SNAP

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1 hour ago

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November 4, 2025

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A prominent House Democrat erupted in anger at President Donald Trump and Republicans for “weaponizing” the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after Trump threatened to withhold funds in defiance of federal court orders. Hours later, the White House moved to walk back the president’s remarks.

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the Ranking Member of the powerful Rules Committee and co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, denounced the Republican decision to “withhold nutrition assistance,” calling it “disgusting,” “immoral,” and “wrong.” He also condemned the Trump administration as “cruel” and “heartless.”

“Donald Trump talks about ‘America first,'” McGovern said. “What about the 16 million American children who rely on SNAP? Or the eight million American seniors who are worried sick about where their next meal comes from? Or the one million American veterans who have to choose between health care and staying fed?”

READ MORE: White House Backpedals on Trump’s SNAP Refusal — and Blames Dems for Delay

McGovern also condemned Republicans for telling “everyday Americans that you have to pick between food and healthcare. I mean, who the h– comes up with that kind of sick, twisted choice?”

“Look,” McGovern continued, “the truth is, these guys don’t give a s– about everyday people. They’ve never gone hungry. They don’t even buy their own groceries, and they’ll never have to choose between putting food on the table or paying for healthcare. They have private cooks and concierge doctors.”

“Republicans are choosing to go after nutrition assistance,” he said. “Trump is doing this because he is a bad person. He’s a lousy president and an even worse human being. He’s weaponizing hunger and trying to rip food away from more than 40 million Americans, including 16 million children, for sadistic political leverage.”

“How dare he? How dare he exploit the pain of hungry Americans?”

RELATED: ‘Breaking the Law’: Trump Blasted After Threatening to Defy Judges’ Orders on SNAP Funds

“How dare he starve poor children who go to bed hungry?”

“These people are sick in the head,” McGovern charged. “They take food away from poor folks on Friday, and then they go to church on Sunday and proclaim to be good Christians. I’m not sure where in the Bible, it says that starving children makes you a good person. I must have missed that part.”

“But my faith tells me something else. It tells me that there’s a special place in hell for people who rip food away from hungry families,” he said.

READ MORE: Johnson Urges SNAP Recipients to Come ‘Home’ to Republican Party

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White House Backpedals on Trump’s SNAP Refusal — and Blames Dems for Delay

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November 4, 2025

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The White House appears to be walking back President Donald Trump’s defiant refusal to release the more than $5 billion in the SNAP contingency funds that two federal judges ordered him to distribute.

In a Truth Social post, President Trump vowed to hold up the SNAP funds, writing that food stamp benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

But according to the White House, the administration is fully complying with the judges’ orders and the President was only talking about “future” emergencies, not the current shutdown.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by a reporter on Tuesday to help “clear some confusion about SNAP benefits.”

RELATED: ‘Breaking the Law’: Trump Blasted After Threatening to Defy Judges’ Orders on SNAP Funds

“The president,” the reporter told Leavitt, “just posted that they will only be given out when the ‘radical left Democrats’ opened the government, and not before. But just yesterday, the administration said it would comply with the court order to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds by end of business day yesterday.”

“So, did the administration distribute that money or defy that court order?” the reporter asked.

“No,” Leavitt insisted, “the administration is fully complying with the court order.”

“I just spoke to the president about it,” she said, before appearing to chastise SNAP recipients and place blame on Democrats.

“The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand, it’s going to take some time to receive this money, because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position,” Leavitt claimed.

“We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war, and the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future, and that’s what he was referring to in his Truth Social post.”

READ MORE: Johnson Urges SNAP Recipients to Come ‘Home’ to Republican Party

“The best way to get the full amount of SNAP benefits to those beneficiaries is for Democrats to reopen the government,” she added, not explaining why it would take longer if the funds were to come from the contingency fund.

“So to anyone who is a SNAP beneficiary at home, who needs that assistance, and President was just saying, this is for people who are truly needy, who need food, who need this assistance from the United States government, Democrats are holding it up, and making it difficult for the administration to get those payments out the door,” Leavitt continued.

READ MORE: ‘Pass Every Policy We Have Dreamt of’: Trump Again Urges GOP to Kill the Filibuster

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‘Breaking the Law’: Trump Blasted After Threatening to Defy Judges’ Orders on SNAP Funds

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7 hours ago

on

November 4, 2025

By

Despite two federal judges ordering the Trump administration to fund food stamps for 42 million Americans whose payments were shut down on Saturday, President Donald Trump said he will not do so until the federal government is reopened.

SNAP benefits, Trump wrote on social media, “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

The New York Times reported that “Tens of millions of Americans will get only partial payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for this month, the Trump administration told a federal judge on Monday, and it was not clear when even those reduced benefits would be distributed.”

Critics were quick to respond.

READ MORE: Johnson Urges SNAP Recipients to Come ‘Home’ to Republican Party

“The president appears to be saying he will NOT abide by the court order to release SNAP benefits even though the WH said they would partially release them,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.

He added, “an hour ago Trump’s own Ag Sec was explaining that they’d given guidance to states about how to administer SNAP benefits from the emergency fund. Now Trump is saying he won’t pay those benefits until the government is reopened.”

“Trump is both defying a court order and taking ownership of the ending of food benefits for needy people all during a shutdown fight that polls show him losing,” Stein observed, “and doing this just days after his Great Gatsby party!”

Media Matters’ senior fellow Matthew Gertz wrote: “Since the ‘No Kings’ rallies, the president has launched an ill-defined bombing campaign without congressional sanction; orchestrated federal charges against his enemies; promised not to release appropriated funds to a jurisdiction if it elects someone he opposes.” He added, “and now” before pointing to Stein’s remarks on Trump’s refusal.

READ MORE: ‘Pass Every Policy We Have Dreamt of’: Trump Again Urges GOP to Kill the Filibuster

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) remarked: “To be clear, Trump isn’t just trying to deny food from hungry American families. He’s breaking the law so he can deny food from hungry American families.”

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) observed, “The President is suggesting he will defy a court order so he can starve kids, seniors, veterans, and families.”

Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias wrote: “Of all the things to break the seal on defying court orders over, I thought Trump would pick something politically savvier than ‘make poor kids go hungry.'”

West Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty commented, “Not sure on the category we put this in … pro-life, family values, or compassionate conservatism?”

Former Obama and Biden official Alex Jacquez noted, “If anyone had any doubt as to who is responsible for SNAP benefits not going out to 42 million people.”

READ MORE: ‘Date’s Lost’: Thune Undermines Johnson’s Strategy in Quest for Longer Funding Deal

 

Image via Reuters 

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