Justice Department

On the last possible day they could do so, the Obama administration filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, even though Obama has previously said he opposed the law.

The Obama administration objected this week to immediately ending the military’s ban on openly gay service members, saying that an injunction to stop the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy might harm military readiness in a time of war. In a filing with a federal court in California, the Justice Department on Thursday said that the […]

The ruling in U.S. District Court in Boston on Thursday, in which Judge Joseph Tauro declared the “Defense of Marriage Act” as “unconstitutional,” has left the Obama administration pondering its next move — under the careful watch of gay rights advocates.

A federal judge on Monday approved a settlement that includes a series of reforms for an upstate New York school district in a gay student’s harassment lawsuit. The New York Civil Liberties Union sued the Mohawk Central School District last August on behalf of a 14 year-old student who alleged that he was repeatedly harassed, […]

The recent death of a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper is once again putting the rights of same-sex couples under scrutiny. When Highway Patrol Cpl. Dennis Engelhard was killed in a Christmas Day traffic accident near Eureka, the agency described him as single with no […]

MSNBC. Though the Obama administration calls the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) discriminatory, the Justice Department nonetheless is defending the law in a court filing today in Massachusetts. The state has challenged the law, which denies federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples who are nonetheless legally married under state law. Massachusetts officials say the […]

The new top federal prosecutor in Seattle knows the significance her role carries for many people: she’s the nation’s first openly gay U.S. attorney. Gay rights activists say her appointment reflects a growing acceptance in the U.S. as well as the attitude of President Barack Obama’s administration. Earlier this month, Obama nominated an openly gay […]

BOSTON — Justice Department lawyers are reluctantly defending the federal law that prevents recognition of same-sex marriages, making their legal arguments in a Boston court while pointing out that the Obama administration opposes the measure, the Boston Globe reports. On Friday, Justice attorneys asked a federal judge in Boston to dismiss a lawsuit that claims […]

The U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division has hired a veteran Senate staffer and gay rights activist Matt Nosanchuk as senior counselor and liaison to the gay and lesbian community. The announcement comes on the heels of yesterday’s move by the DOJ to dismiss a federal suit arguing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is […]

The Obama administration declared today that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) discriminates against gays and lesbians, while at the same time Justice Department lawyers moved in federal court to defend the law, and urged a federal judge to throw out a case brought by a gay couple married in California. “The Department of Justice […]