A bill to repeal DOMA, the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, will be introduced into the House Wednesday by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-MNY) Jon Conyers, (D-MI), and all four openly-gay Representatives, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, and David Cicilline.
DOMA, which bans the federal government from recognizing same-gender marriages, was declared unconstitutional by a federal district court judge in July, 2010. Repealing the law would not force states to recognize marriage equality, but would be a step toward that goal, and would allow married same-sex coupes access to some federal benefits they are currently denied.
Julie Bolcer at The Advocate writes, “[t]he legislation already has 105 original co-sponsors in the House, and Sens. Diane Feinstein, Patrick Leahy and Kirsten Gillibrand plan to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.
“The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal DOMA, and comes in response to a call from President Obama for Congressional action on the issue,” reports the news release. “As the President has stated: ‘I stand by my long-standing commitment to work with Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. It’s discriminatory, it interferes with states’ rights, and it’s time we overturned it.’ Last week, on the heels of the President’s decision not to defend DOMA in court, House Republican Leadership announced that it will defend DOMA in court, making passage of the Respect for Marriage Act more critical than ever.”
No comments:
Post a Comment