Matt Baume

President Obama’s leadership on marriage equality is proving to have a major impact, form national organizations and local polling. Anti-equality forces set a record, but it’s probably not one they wanted. And DOMA is ruled unconstitutional in a fifth federal case.

This week’s Marriage News Watch report is here:

Following is the text of this week’s report:

There’ve been more high-profile endorsements for marriage equality, starting with the NAACP. NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous told reporters, “The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people.”

Within days of that announcement, former Secretary of State Colin Powell stated his support President Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality. Powell told CNN that this “it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country.”

These attitudes are becoming increasingly commonplace. A new poll shows Americans support marriage equality by a margin of 53 to 39 percent. That puts anti-equality forces at their lowest ever recorded levels.

Those national numbers are consistent with new numbers coming out of individual states. In Maryland, marriage is likely to be on the ballot this fall. And a new survey shows voters upholding equality by 57 to 37 percent.

Among Maryland’s African Americans, 55 percent say they’ll vote for the marriage equality law, with 36 percent opposed. That’s a complete reversal from two months ago, when the measure was losing by 39 to 56.

A federal district court in California has ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the United States Constitution. Judge Claudia Wilken’s ruling was based heavily on AFER’s victories in the case against Proposition 8. As multiple judges have now found with Prop 8, Wilken ruled that DOMA does not advance a “legitimate government interest.” This is now the fifth federal case in which a court has ruled against DOMA.

Tags: Barack Obama, Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Marriage Equality

Filed under: Around the Nation