The United States government announced over the weekend that it plans to confer the same treatment that is afforded to heterosexual couples to same-sex couples when they file for bankruptcy, testify in court of visit family in prison.

US Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a speech this weekend that “In every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States, they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections and rights as opposite-sex marriages,”

Under the new policy, same-sex spouses of individuals involved in criminal and civil cases will be given the same legal rights as married couples, including the right known as spousal privilege, giving one spouse the option of refusing to give evidence that might incriminate their spouse.

Holder went on to say that “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…As attorney general, I will not let this Department be simply a bystander during this important moment in history.”