WATCH: Military Widow Optimistic DOMA Will Be Struck Down

Karen and Charlie Morgan

Karen Morgan, a military widow who has been denied benefits because of the Defense of Marriage Act, today said she is optimistic that DOMA will be overturned.

“I’m optimistic and hopeful that the Supreme Court will find that DOMA is unconstitutional,” Morgan told MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts this morning.

Morgan’s wife, New Hampshire National Guard member Charlie Morgan, died of breast cancer in February, a day before then–Defense secretary Leon Panetta extended certain benefits to same-sex spouses of military members. The benefits could not be applied posthumously, however, and Panetta’s order did not apply to Social Security and some other benefits, which are administered by other federal government departments. Karen Morgan has been turned down for Social Security widow’s benefits because of DOMA.

However DOMA affects her, however, the fight to overturn it leaves an important legacy for future generations, including the couple’s 5-year-old daughter, Casey, she said.

“One of the beautiful things that I have noticed and remarked upon in the past is that Casey is not aware of discrimination,” Morgan told Roberts. “She does not understand it. She does not have the language to describe it and that’s the case of a lot of kids her age.”

Watch video of the interview below.

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