Nothing like pissing on the memories of the people who were lynched during that era to score cheap political points with the base.

Via The Hill:

The Obama administration will continue the extension of federal benefits to married same-sex couples as heterosexual couples, Attorney General Eric Holder will announce on Saturday.

The Justice Department plans to issue a policy memo on Monday, which will allow same-sex couples to be able to file jointly for bankruptcy and will mandate that they will not be compelled to testify against each other in trial, among other new rights.

Holder will deliver the news at a gala thrown by the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York City Saturday night.

“Just like during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the stakes involved in this generation’s struggle for LGBT equality could not be higher. Then, as now, nothing less than our country’s commitment to the notion of equal protection under the law was on the line,” Holder will say in his speech, according to an excerpt.

“As attorney general, I will not let [the Justice] Department be simply a bystander during this important moment in history.”

Same-sex couples will have the right to file for domestic support obligations, including alimony and are eligible for Justice Department programs that provide compensation to surviving spouses of public safety officers.

Federal inmates in same-sex marriages will also receive the same benefits as married straight couples – such as, exchanging correspondence, having visitation rights and receiving “compassionate release” or a sentence reduction because of the incapacitation of a spouse. Same-sex inmates may also receive escorts to a spouse’s funeral and are eligible to be furloughed in the event of a crisis involving their spouse.