Today, President Obama ordered the Department of Justice to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court. DOMA, which denies over 1,000 rights to gay couples, was passed in 1996 and has been kept alive ever since. Attorney General Eric Holden sent a letter to congress earlier today, detailing the Obama Administration's updated stance on DOMA.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese says "As the President has stated previously, DOMA unfairly discriminates against Americans and we applaud him for fulfilling his oath to defend critical constitutional principles." HRC has been promoting an abandonment of this law for years, writing letters to the President directly in an effort to effect change, and encouraging HRC members to do the same.
"Congressional leaders must not waste another taxpayer dollar defending this patently unconstitutional law," Solmonese further explains. "The federal government has no business picking and choosing which legal marriages they want to recognize. Instead, Congress should take this opportunity to wipe the stain of marriage discrimination from our laws." DOMA will remain in effect until Congress repeals it, or a Federal court strikes it down.
All I can say is: FINALLY! I personally think DOMA is a disgrace to this country. It's not the government's place to tell anyone who they have the right to love, and denying rights to homosexual couples simply because they aren't straight is reprehensible. Congress still has to repeal the law, but with Obama's refusal to support DOMA's defense it's only a mater of time. Gay Rights, 1; Discrimination, 0.
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