Federal judge rules ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ unconstitutional in California case

A federal district court judge in San Francisco ruled Tuesday (February 22) that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the rights of gays and lesbians to equal protection of the law.
The ruling by Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for Northern California was the second time a federal judge has declared unconstitutional the federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriages. A federal district court judge in Boston made a similar ruling in July 2010, in consolidated cases brought by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
This week’s ruling came in a case, Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), brought by Lambda Legal Defense on behalf of a lesbian attorney, Karen Golinski, who is employed by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Golinski married her female partner of 20-
plus years in August 2008, when it was possible to do so in California. She then applied for health care coverage for her spouse through her employer, the Ninth Circuit, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski ordered the court to provide Golinski benefits but the OPM, headed by openly gay appointee John Berry, instructed the insurance company not to enroll Golinski’s spouse, noting that DOMA precluded the federal employer from recognizing Golinski’s marriage.