Defense Of Marriage Act

When Jesse Goodman and his Argentine fiance left the United States in 2006 after an unsuccessful immigration battle, they expected that one day they would be able to return home to New York. Goodman and Max Oliva had become used to finding temporary ways to be together. They had fallen in love quickly and planned on marrying but soon learned that, unlike similar situations with straight couples, their relationship wouldn't help Oliva stay in the country. For a time, they relied on a mix of work permits and tourist visas to stay together.

In announcing his decision to now support same-sex marriage, President Obama also shed new light on his initial hesitation on the issue. Speaking with ABC News' Robin Roberts , Obama said that he and his administration have long "stood on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community," pointing to the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, among others....

President Obama endorsed a bill Tuesday that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, a 15-year-old law denying federal benefits for same-sex couples.  "The president has long called for a legislative repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on the lives of real people - our families, friends and neighbors,” said White House spokesman Shin Inouye. DOMA, passed by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by President Clinton, defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama, marking the end of a prolonged "evolution" on the issue, now favors allowing homosexual couples to marry, he said in a television interview Wednesday. The announcement comes days after Vice President Joe Biden's comments that he was "absolutely comfortable" with gay marriage put new pressure on Obama to clarify his position on the issue. Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts Wednesday: "Over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or Marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that 'don't ask, don't tell' is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

Last week, a federal court in Massachusetts held unconstitutional the provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, that denies federal benefits to same-sex spouses. The ruling relied on two arguments: that the law interfered with the rights of states guaranteed in the 10th Amendment, and that it violated the Constitution's equal protection clause. The first of these arguments doesn't make much sense, but the second is so strong that it has a good chance of being accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court.

House Democrats have filed an amicus brief siding with groups challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, the Clinton-era law denying federal benefits to married, same-sex couples. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and 131 other members signed the brief, which argues that the key section of the law is unconstitutional because it was passed quickly, driven by biases and lacks "a rational relationship to any legitimate federal purpose. " President Obama announced earlier this year that he also believed the law was unconstitutional and his administration would not defend it in some court cases.

Q: What is the Defense of Marriage Act? A: The act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996 amid concerns that the federal government would be forced to honor legal same-sex marriages in some states. Under Section 2 of the act, states that have not legalized same-sex marriage are not required to recognize gay and lesbian marriages in states that have. Section 3 defines marriage as solely between a man and woman. Both the George W. Bush administration and the Obama administration have defended the act in court.

House Republican leaders voted Wednesday to launch what could be a lengthy legal battle against granting federal rights and benefits to same-sex couples, deciding to join a series of pending court battles to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Obama administration has decided to no longer defend as constitutional. A five-member panel convened by House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) directed the House counsel to initiate a legal defense of the 15-year-old law. Democrats on the panel, who are a minority, opposed the move.

The Obama administration scored a victory of sorts in federal court Monday when a judge threw out an Orange County gay couple's lawsuit claiming that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Just last week a top Justice Department lawyer sought the dismissal of the lawsuit on grounds that the couple, Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer of Mission Viejo, had failed to identify any personal harm suffered because of the 1996 law, which bars the federal government from treating same-sex marriages as legal or granting federal benefits to same-sex spouses.

A boy of summer Re "Hall of Famer was Dodger star," Obituary, Feb. 28 My love affair with baseball started in 1946, when I was 9 years old. Growing up in Louisville, Ky., I was a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and kept up with them through radio, TV, newspapers and sports magazines. Today, when my boyhood baseball heroes die, I'm touched with a bit of sad nostalgia in remembering the joy they brought me. For me, baseball's glory days were 1946-60. It was a time when players gave their autographs for free.

Maybe it was another example of the irrepressible Joe Biden failing to repress an impolitic comment. Or perhaps the vice president's statement on a Sunday talk show that he is "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage was part of an orchestrated attempt by the Obama administration to inch further toward an official endorsement of marriage equality. Either way, Biden's expansive remarks on "Meet the Press" are a reminder that his boss has been trying to have it both ways: supporting equal legal rights for gay couples while stopping short of embracing the "M-word.

WASHINGTON -- The White House cast Vice President Joe Biden's comments on same-sex marriage as being in line with President Obama's views on the matter, saying the administration has not changed its position and both men are “evolving. "  “I have no update on the president's personal views,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday at a lively briefing dominated by questions about Biden's expression of support for gay marriage. “What the vice president said yesterday was to make the same point that the president has made previously, that committed and loving same-sex couples deserve the same rights and protections enjoyed by all Americans and that we oppose any effort to roll back those rights.” But vice president went further than the president has in stating support for gay marriage.

WASHINGTON - A closely watched constitutional challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act went before a U.S. appeals court for the first time Wednesday, setting the stage for a possible Supreme Court decision next year on whether legally married same-sex couples are entitled to equal benefits under federal law. At issue is not whether gays and lesbians have a right to marry, but whether the federal government can deny tax, health and pension benefits...

A judge on Wednesday declared the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and ordered the federal government to ignore the statute and provide health benefits to the wife of a lesbian federal court employee. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White was the first since the Obama administration announced a year ago that it would no longer defend a law it considers discriminatory and reflective of a long history of denying equal rights to gays and lesbians. White ordered the federal Office of Personnel Management to enroll the wife of Karen Golinski, an attorney for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in the health benefits program available to other employees of the federal judiciary.

A Pasadena woman who served 12 years in theU.S. Army, including tours of duty in Iraq, filed suit Wednesday against the Department of Veterans Affairs for denying her full disability benefits because she is married to a woman. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles by Tracey Cooper-Harris seeks a ruling that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally discriminates against legally married same-sex couples. Cooper-Harris, who earned the rank of sergeant and more than 20 medals during her Army service, was honorably discharged in 2003 and married her spouse, Maggie, during the six-month period in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal in California.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was among a group of 80 mayors in Washington on Friday who pledged their support for gay marriage and announced an initiative aimed at expanding marriage rights for same-sex couples. The initiative, called Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, was announced during a press conference held at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' winter meeting. Villaraigosa will co-chair the group. The mayors have pledged to push their cities to pass laws allowing same-sex marriage and urge Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.

Counting married same-sex couples should be easy; there aren't that many of them. Instead, the federal Defense of Marriage Act:H.R.3396.ENR: has forced lawyers to jump through legal hoops so this country can obtain a more realistic picture of the diverse families within its borders. And even when the U.S. census count begins in 2010, it won't provide useful information about the marital status of gay and lesbian couples. Nor is it likely even to call them married.

New Hampshire voters pride themselves on vetting and testing their candidates, and Vietnam veteran Bob Garon waited for more than two hours at a Manchester diner Monday to get Mitt Romney's views on the proposed repeal of New Hampshire's law permitting gay marriage. “I judge most people by their eyes, as I think most Americans do,” Garon said a few minutes before Romney sidled over to his booth inside Chez Vachon, a popular breakfast spot known for its crepes and pork pies. What he saw at the diner, before they even spoke, did not impress.