Litigation

U.S. to Stop Defending Federal Marriage Act

By Peter Hardin

In a turnabout, President Obama has ordered an end to the federal government’s defense of a 1996 ban on gay marriage against lawsuits challenging it.

Under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),  married gay couples (in states where their union is permitted) have been denied a mix of federal benefits provided to heterosexual married couples, including health insurance and the benefits of filing joint tax returns.

“After careful consideration, the president of the United States has made the determination that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal-protection component” of the U.S. Constitution, Attorney General Eric Holder announced, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

The practical effect of the newly announced position, the newspaper reported, apparently is restricted to states where gays are permitted to marry legally. But there are broader implications of the new policy “because it says that discrimination against gays is generally unconstitutional, unless the government has a strong reason to justify its policy,” the newspaper said.

Obama has urged repeal of DOMA in the past, at the same time that Justice Department lawyers defended in court the constitutionality of the law, a New York Times article noted.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).