Boston.com – By Jonathan Saltzman
The Boston-based legal advocacy group that helped make gay marriage a fact of life in Massachusetts is girding for a fight to expand the rights of same-sex married couples.
For more than a year, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders has quietly surveyed the nearly 10,000 same-sex couples who have wed in Massachusetts to see whether they want federal benefits and equal tax treatment currently provided only to married heterosexuals.
GLAD also ran ads in two publications last month asking same-sex couples to contact the group if they want to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery as military veterans with their spouses or if they unsuccessfully sought to care for a sick spouse under the federal law that lets workers take unpaid medical leaves.