Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted Sept. 21, 1996, is a U.S. federal law that defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman for federal and inter-state recognition purposes in the United States. The law passed both houses of Congress by large majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Under the law, no U.S. state or political subdivision is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state. Section 3 of DOMA codifies the non-recognition of same-sex marriages for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, Social Security survivors’ benefits, immigration, and the filing of joint tax returns.

Section 3 of DOMA has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts, including the First and Second Circuit Court of Appeals, on issues including bankruptcy, public employee benefits, estate taxes, and immigration. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in one of those cases, United States v. Windsor, with oral arguments expected in March 2013. [ Wikipedia → ]

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Anthony Kennedy

Gay dads don’t serve amicus briefs when we invite Supreme Court justices to dinner

Saturday, February 9, 2013
Same-sex marriage is before the Supreme Court and the anti-gay community is out in force.  Propaganda-like amicus briefs from the anti-gay community seem to be papering the walls of the Supreme Court on a daily basis. Nan Hunter, on The Nation, observed that the briefs... [ Read more → ]
utah

Utah LGBT advocacy group to file amicus briefs in DOMA, Prop 8 cases

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Pride Center announced Wednesday that it will file an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the pending cases involving the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8. Utah Pride said it has retained a bipartisan... [ Read more → ]
FRC-300x205

FRC briefs: Anti-gay laws reflect public opinion; gay rights laws reflect powerful gay lobby

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Family Research Council submitted two amicus briefs to the Supreme Court on Monday, urging it to reject challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and to California’s Proposition 8, a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]
From left: Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) at a news conference Monday to announce sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws.Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press

Same-sex couples missing from Senate immigration plan

Tuesday, January 29, 2013
A blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform made public on Monday by a bipartisan group of senators contains no provision for bi-national same-sex couples, despite the push among LGBT advocates to include such language in immigration reform. [ Read more → ]
defending-DOMA

Defending DOMA: How $3 million could have been better spent

Saturday, January 26, 2013
The Center for American Progress looks at the cost of defending the Defense of Marriage Act, and how $3 million could have been better spent. [ Read more → ]
Paul Clement

Anti-gay legal briefs ‘mischaracterized’ parenting study

Friday, January 25, 2013
Attorneys who submitted anti-gay briefs to the Supreme Court in favor of California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act are continuing the mischaracterization of a 2002 study on child development to suggest same-sex parents are less fit than opposite-sex parents, according to the non-profit that produced the study. [ Read more → ]
Vicki C. Jackson

Amicus brief: U.S. Supreme Court does not have authority to rule on DOMA

Thursday, January 24, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court does not have the authority to rule on the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, argued a Harvard professor in a brief filed Thursday with the high court. [ Read more → ]
US Supreme Court

House GOP to Supreme Court: Gays too powerful to warrant judicial protection

Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Republican members of the U.S. House leadership on Tuesday told the U.S. Supreme Court it should uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as constitutional, arguing that gays and lesbians are a powerful interest group, and do not warrant "judicial intervention." [ Read more → ]
tax-returns

Despite legal unions, same-sex couples still can’t file joint federal taxes

Wednesday, January 23, 2013
WASHINGTON — Even though an increasing number of states are legalizing gay marriage, same-sex married couples still won't be able to file joint federal tax returns this year. The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one... [ Read more → ]
Jay CarneyFile photo: Michael Key, Washington Blade

White House still says marriage not a federal issue

Tuesday, January 22, 2013
WASHINGTON -- White House Press Secretary Jay Carney maintained on Tuesday that President Obama’s LGBT remarks in his inaugural speech weren’t an attempt to nationalize the issue of marriage. [ Read more → ]
Allison-Hanson-Karen-Alexander-AP

Same-sex military couples still struggle for recognition, despite DADT repeal

Saturday, January 19, 2013
RALEIGH, N.C. — Sgt. Karen Alexander fought for her country in Iraq, but back home she often feels the U.S. Army is fighting against her. Married to another female soldier with a 4-year-old son, Alexander is denied the same housing allowance and other family-friendly benefits... [ Read more → ]
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)File photo by Michael Key, Washington Blade

Gillibrand leads renewed call to help bi-national couples

Friday, January 18, 2013
The junior senator from New York is taking up the lead on a renewed call for administrative action to help bi-national same-sex couples in anticipation of a ruling from the Supreme Court on the Defense of Marriage Act. In a letter sent out Thursday, Sen.... [ Read more → ]
us-house

House GOP leadership quietly increases cap on DOMA defense to $3 million

Tuesday, January 15, 2013
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives' continuing effort to defend the federal "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) will soon reach $3 million. Late Monday, House Democrats learned that Republican leadership had again privately raised the spending cap with attorney Paul Clement and the Washington-based... [ Read more → ]
us_supreme_court-300x236

U.S. Supreme Court schedules arguments in Prop 8, DOMA cases

Monday, January 7, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear arguments during the last week of March in two cases affecting same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]
John BoehnerPhoto: Michael Key, Washington Blade

U.S. House approves rules affirming commitment to DOMA

Friday, January 4, 2013
As one of its first acts of the 113th Congress, the U.S. House on Thursday approved a set of governing rules that includes language authorizing the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to defend the Defense of Marriage Act against litigation in court. [ Read more → ]
Fort-Bragg

A Failure of Leadership: Ft. Bragg and the Pentagon

Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Military spouses’ organizations aren’t just social clubs – they provide critical support to families that face challenges that civilian families don’t understand - long separations due to training and deployment, stresses on everyone in the family when a loved one goes to war. Most Army wives, and husbands recognize that we need each others’ support to deal with the tough challenges of military life – and that we’re all in this together. So what the heck is wrong at Fort Bragg? [ Read more → ]
DOMA-protest

LGBT leaders to House GOP: Stop wasting tax dollars defending DOMA

Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Leaders of ten of the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights advocacy organizations on Tuesday called on the U.S. House Republican leadership to stop funding the legal defense of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). [ Read more → ]
supreme-court

U.S. Supreme Court sets briefing schedule for DOMA lawsuit

Sunday, December 16, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court has announced the schedule for submitting legal briefs in pending DOMA litigation, making the deadline for the first round of such documents Jan. 22. [ Read more → ]
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio)File photo by Michael Key, Washington Blade

House GOP agrees to $500K hike in cost cap to defend DOMA

Friday, December 14, 2012
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has pledged to continue defending of the Defense of Marriage Act at the Supreme Court as a newly public contract reveals House Republicans secretly agreed to raise the cost cap for doing so to $2 million. [ Read more → ]
Thea Spyer (left) and Edith Windsor

Joy trumps jurisprudence in gay marriage case

Thursday, December 13, 2012
One of two cases that the Supreme Court has decided to hear in the coming year will challenge the Defense of Marriage Act. Although this is ostensibly a legal case, it is really about competing narratives – and there is nothing same-sex marriage opponents offer that comes close to the touching tale of Edie Windsor and her deceased wife Thea Spyer. Their struggle not only tugs at the heartstrings, it transforms the heart into a marionette, dancing merrily to sappy love songs. This case screams out for fair resolution, and the court runs the risk of delegitimizing itself as draconian and doctrinaire if it denies this couple justice. [ Read more → ]
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