Judge rules Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional | The Raw Story

Judge rules Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional | The Raw Story

DOMA Lawsuites Filed

Gay civil rights groups trying to build momentum for a possible Supreme Court showdown filed two lawsuits Tuesday that seek to strike down portions of a 1996 law that denies married same-sex couples federal benefits.

The lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Connecticut and New York and come just months after a federal judge in Boston struck down a key component of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The legal actions seek judicial declarations that the law enacted by Congress in 1996, when it appeared Hawaii would soon legalize same-sex marriage, was unconstitutional because it prevents the federal government from affording pension and other benefits to same-sex couples. Since 2004, five states – Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts – and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage.

ON a related note..

13 Ridiculous Laws States Would Rather Have than Gay Marriage

Judge Ends "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Judge Orders "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Injunction

A federal judge has issued a worldwide injunction stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.

The Dept. of Justice is not required to appeal the decision but is expected to do so.

In related news, the Dept. of Justice is Appealing Rulings Against DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday defended the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman by appealing two rulings in Massachusetts by a judge who called the law unconstitutional for denying federal benefits to gay married couples.

How ironic that the administration of the candidate who promised to repeal DADT and DOMA is now defending them, while conservative Republicans are winning court cases to overturn them!

Federal Judge Overturns DOMA

BOSTON — The federal law banning gay marriage is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define the institution and therefore denies married gay couples some federal benefits, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Boston.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled in favor of gay couples' rights in two separate challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, a 1996 law that the Obama administration has argued for repealing. The rulings apply to Massachusetts but could have broader implications if they're upheld on appeal.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro, appointed to the federal bench in 1972, ruled this afternoon in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A companion decision in Massachusetts v. U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Services also was issued, with Tauro finding that DOMA also violates the Tenth Amendment and the Spending Clause of the Constitution.

The Obama DOJ defended DOMA, and will probably appeal the ruling to the Circuit Court and eventually the SCOTUS.
Obama Administration Walks Tricky Political Line on Gay Marriage Ban

Read the Ruling

Bill to Overturn DOMA Introduced

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced on Tuesday the Respect for Marriage Act, which would overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, a law Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed in 1996 that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

At a Capitol Hill press conference, Nadler called the Respect for Marriage Act “the first step to overturning the Defense of Marriage Act and sending that ugly law into the history books where it belongs.”

David Mixner: The Tea-Baggers and the LGBT Community

Cleve Jones: Repealing DOMA The First Step
National Equality March Oct. 10-11

Obama Administration: DOMA Unfair To Gays

After taking a lot of heat for it's attempt to DEFEND the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, the Obama Administration DOJ now says it is unfair to gays and should be repealed, though they still have to defend it as current federal law.

Obama Administration: DOMA Unfair to Gays

Bill Clinton (finally) Supports Marriage Equality

A little late--former President Bill Clinton Now Supports Same-Sex Marriage rights. As President, Clinton supported and signed the "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) which now denies federal recognition of marriage rights and benefits for same-sex couples who are now able to marry in some states.

Hopefully President Obama will not wait until he's out of office to say he supports marriage equality for gays and lesbians.

Speaking of flip-flops, Obama is still making excuses for NOT repealing the other legacy of Bill Clinton, the military's anti-gay Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. In an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, Obama talks about "changing" DADT, not REPEALING it.

MA Challenges DOMA with Lawsuit

Massachusetts Sues Federal Government Over the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

The lawsuit argues that DOMA's definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman infringes on the right of states to recognize same-sex marriages. Will the Obama DOJ defend DOMA again? This could get interesting...

Obama Grants (Some) Benefits to Gay Fed. Employees

Obama Grants (Some) Benefits to Gay Federal Employees
After a week of growing anger and frustration by gays & lesbians over his DOJ anti-gay brief defending the "Defense of Marriage Act," President Obama signed a memorandum granting SOME benefits to gay federal employees. He noted it was a small step, called the Defense of Marriage Act "discriminatory" and called for it to be repealed (again), and urged Congress to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, which would grant full benefits to gay employees, which are currently prohibited by the DOMA. The signing statement was rushed to counter gay anger over the DOJ anti-gay DOMA brief, and to salvage a DNC gay fundraiser next week, which many prominent gay leaders and activists are boycotting.

Obama's Statement on Gay Federal Benefits

This statement does not seem to be enough to calm the gay anger and frustration with the lack of any progress on the promises the DNC and Obama campaigns made to gay voters and supporters:

Gay Critics Say "Too Little, Too Late" From Obama
John Arovosis: Obama Betrays the Gay Community
Deb Price: Obama Backtracks on Gay Rights
NYT: Outcry o Federal Same-Sex Benefits

Maybe the Democrats in Congress got a wake up call and will do something now:
Rep. Barney Frank to Introduce ENDA Next Week

If the DNC wants to get any more gay money, they better ACT NOW!

More Fallout From Obama DOJ's Anti-Gay Defense of DOMA

There is more fallout from the Obama DOJ's DEFENSE of the anti-gay "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA):

Obama Faces Growing Gay Anger

A Letter to Obama from HRC

David Mixner's Personal Statement: DOMA Brief Brings Shame to Obama

DNC Gay Fundraiser Falling Apart

New York Times: A Bad Call on Gay Rights

Rep. Barney Frank Rips Obama's anti-gay DOJ DOMA Brief

Richard Socarides (former aide to Bill Clinton) refutes the argument that the Obama admistration HAD to defend DOMA since it is current law: The Choice to Defend DOMA and its Consequences

Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean Take on Obama's Defense of DOMA

Operation DOMA Flip Flop

OPERATION DOMA FLIP FLOP

Join the Impact has a new campaign to pressure Pres. Obama to keep his promise to REPEAL the "Defense of Marriage Act". Send a Flip Flop card to the White House

Will Obama Keep Promises to Gay Voters?

Obama in Hot Seat Over Partner Benefits
In one of the first tests of Obama's commitment to LGBT equal rights, he is being forced to decide whether same-sex federal employees are entitled to domestic partnership benefts. In two cases federal appeals court judges in California have ruled that the partners of gay employees should receive insurance benefits, while the Office of Personnel Management has told insurers not to provide the benefits, citing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which Obama has opposed. Now his administration will be forced to take a position on DOMA.

The anti-gay right wing will jump on this issue and use the current economic crises to rally opposition to spending tax payers' money to provide insurance for the partners of federal gay employees. It will be a tough issue--one of many--to test Obama's commitment to LGBT equal rights.

The military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is also under attack in several court cases, and Obama may have to make a decision on what to do about DADT very soon as well.

Hopefully Obama will not repeat the mistakes of Bill Clinton. Obama SHOULD stick to his "progressive values" and keep his promises to the gay community.

Hillary Clinton Spin on Gay Rights

In an Interview with the Washington Blade Hillary Clinton claims she is more supportive of gay rights than Barack Obama. She reiterates her claims in the HRC/LOGO debate that the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) military policy Bill Clinton signed into law was a "transitional" step, and that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which she still supports in part, stopped the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Gay activist, and former Clinton fundraiser and ally, David Mixner refutes her claims:

Keeping Our History Straight:

"I understand any candidate’s desire to spin the past to cover up mistakes, but our community cannot create a better future by forgetting its past.

First, Clinton’s claim that DOMA was passed so it could help defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) eight years later is absolutely false. As we all know, the FMA wasn’t really a threat until 2002, and the two pieces of legislation had distinctly separate origins. While having DOMA on the books might have been a factor in the FMA’s defeat, it was passed for political reasons in an election year. In fact, after proclaiming to the community how painful it was for him to sign it, President Clinton’s reelection campaign had ads up in the South touting the legislation within two weeks!

Just think about this for a moment – Clinton essentially said that it was good to pass and sign an oppressive and discriminatory law in order to avoid something worse eight years later. I simply cannot accept this version of history or policymaking strategy.

Then, while spinning its genesis, Clinton failed to advocate the overturning of DOMA, as both Edwards and Obama did earlier in the program. She stated that she supports only a partial repeal of the law, a glaring difference which the panel should have honed in on. Additionally, I think the panel could have questioned her position on published reports that her husband advised John Kerry and other candidates to support state and federal amendments banning marriage in 2004.

I have written before about Clinton’s spinning of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as a beneficial “transitional step” towards full integration of gays and lesbians in the military. But I hardly think that the 11,000 men and women who have had their military careers ended and their personal lives damaged since 1993 view Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as sympathetically. As I recall, the policy was never discussed as a transitional step. It was hastily produced and passed, by a Democratic President and Congress, to extract the new administration from of a political mess of its own making.

Let’s also remember what this destructive policy requires of LGBT service members today, 14 years later. They must lie about their personal lives to their co-workers and friends and cannot even mention a partner or lover back home. They must hide pictures of shared intimate moments that every couple, straight or gay, cherish so much. They can’t take leave to care for an ill partner. Most troubling, they must live in constant fear of being exposed. And if they slip up and disclose any of these things, they risk expulsion and a dishonorable discharge that may affect their future employment as a private citizen.

This was simply a dreadful policy from the very beginning, and I personally feel that any claim otherwise is just as hurtful as the policy itself.

I appreciate all of the Democratic candidates’ increasingly progressive perceptions of and positions on LGBT equality, including Hillary Clinton. But our LGBT history – how we got to the place where we now stand – is sacred. As a community we cannot forget our past struggles, no matter how easy it might be to do so, because they will guide us through the adversity we face today and in the future."

David Mixner helped get Clinton to promise to sign an executive order to lift the ban on gays in the military and helped raise money from the LGBT community for the Clinton campaign. After Clinton broke his promise and signed the DADT and the DOMA, Mixner was arrested in a protest when he chained himself to the White House gate. He joined former LGBT John Edwards supporters to endorse Barack Obama.

Barack Obama supports a full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and has been including gays and lesbians in many of his speeches including his MLK speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in which he condemned homophobia in the black community.

While Hillary Clinton seems to be the favored candidate among gays and lesbians, I think LGBT people should look more carefully at the history of Bill and Hillary Clinton on gay rights. They threw us under the bus for their own political gain, just as they did workers with NAFTA and poor women with "welfare reform."