Obama calls for repeal of DOMA
If congress doesn’t do something then perhaps the David Boies / Ted Olson led prop 8 case wending it’s way to the supreme court will. I suspect that congress is going to want act before the courts do, since the conservatives in congress want protections for church marriages and church exclusivity. The court’s ruling on Prop 8 might become rather broad if the court acts before congress. Without repeal coupled with restrictions the prop 8 ruling has potential to take out many if not all laws that discriminate against gays, including the Defense of Marriage act at Federal level.
President Obama is calling for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bans same-sex married couples from receiving the same federal benefits available to opposite-sex married couples.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that Mr. Obama was “proud to support the [repeal effort], which would take the DOMA off the books once and for all.”
The announcement came a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to conduct hearings examining the Respect for Marriage Act, a legislative vehicle designed to overturn DOMA.
“This legislation would uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections as straight couples,” Mr. Carney said.
The repeal law would mandate that the 1,100 federal rights, privileges, and benefits currently available only to heterosexual married couples must be guaranteed to same-sex married couples as well.