Gender Discrimination and Military Spouses: Frontiero v. Richardson

On May 14, 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Frontiero v. Richardson furthering equal rights to females in military. A short excerpt from the article:

"Military Husbands
Frontiero v. Richardson found unconstitutional a federal law that required different criteria for male spouses of military members to receive benefits, as opposed to female spouses.

Sharon Frontiero was a U.S. Air Force lieutenant who tried to get dependent benefits for her husband. Her request was denied. The law said that male spouses of women in the military could only get benefits if the man relied on his wife for more than half of his financial support. However, female spouses of men in the military automatically were entitled to dependent benefits. A male serviceman did not have to show that his wife relied on him for any of her support."