SAN FRANCISCO — A group of Republican members of Congress who oppose gay rights filed an appeal today of a federal judge’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional.
District Court Judge Jeffery White, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled on Wednesday, Feb. 22, that DOMA violates the rights of Karen Golinski, who was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Ironically, the appeal goes to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Obama Administration and the U.S. Justice Department have concluded that DOMA is unconstitutional and are refusing to defend the discriminatory law in court. Anti-gay Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Speaker John Boehner, are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to defend challenges to DOMA.
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DOMA is under legal attack in several district courts around the U.S., and has taken a pummeling in each case because it clearly discriminates against gay and lesbian couples who are legally married. The U.S. Senate has introduced a bill to overturn DOMA, but that bill has not moved forward yet.
