SEMO Extends Benefits to Same-Sex Spouses

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) – Same-sex spouses of employees and retirees at Southeast Missouri State University will now be eligible for university benefits.

The Board of Regents of the Cape Girardeau school voted Monday to extend benefits immediately to spouses in same-sex couples who were legally married in another state.

University vice president Kathy Mangels says the action follows an Oct. 3 order by a Jackson County circuit judge requiring the state to recognize such marriages. The Attorney General’s office declined to appeal, and the state’s main health-care and retirement plans have since expanded benefits to same-sex spouses with valid marriage certificates.

Southeast Missouri State officials say they expect to the cost to the university to be minimal.

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