A divided United States Supreme Court gave a major boost to gay and lesbian rights on Wednesday, June 26th, striking down a key section of a federal law that denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. The decision has sent many employers scrambling to identify what the decision means to their business.

The justices declared unconstitutional part of the 17-year-old Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA"), a law that has denied federal benefits to married gays and lesbians in a dozen states, and the District of Columbia. Thirty-six (36) states still ban same-sex marriage, including Oklahoma. The high court's ruling, however, does not affect Oklahoma's ban. At least not yet.

In a 5-4 decision, the "highest court in the land" ruled the federal law unconstitutionally denied equal treatment to gay and lesbian couples. "DOMA singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled of recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty," Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority. "The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity. By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment," Kennedy wrote.

But the Supreme Court was careful to say its conclusion about DOMA was "confined to those lawful marriages" performed in states that already recognize same-sex marriage. However, in a scathing dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia warns that the Court's decision could help clear the path for same-sex marriage nationwide. "By formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage an enemy of human decency, the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting marriage to its traditional definition," wrote Scalia.

There are more than 1,100 provisions in federal laws that listed marital status as a factor in determining benefits, rights and privileges. The most prevalent are tax laws. The decision will provide certain federal tax benefits to same-sex marriage couples previously denied under the law.