Man tells senators: Defense of Marriage Act cost me my home
Ron Wallen met the person that he says completed his life in 1953.
At 19, he met his match in 23-year-old Tom Carrollo. The pair spent the next 58 years together. On June 24, 2008, they were able to marry when California for a short time legalized and then began performing same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Wallen, now 77, shared his story and his struggle with the Defense of Marriage Act in a congressional hearing Wednesday in which he and others asked lawmakers to pass the Respect for Marriage Act.
Even the bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, knows the legislation is unlikely to pass considering there is no Republican support for it.
However, the bill has gotten a new bump of support since President Barack Obama said he now backs the repeal of DOMA, which President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1996.
The Respect For Marriage Act would make it clear that any married same-sex couple is eligible for Social Security survivor benefits, filing joint tax returns and other benefits given to married couples.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked why the current law needs to be repealed now. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, and Rep. Steve King, a witness before the panel, defended DOMA, saying the institution of marriage should be only for a man and a woman.
“Orwell would have marveled at it,” Grassley said of the need for legislation such as the Respect of Marriage Act.Republicans also argued it is an issue that should be left to the states to decide — not something that the federal government should force upon the states.
King called marriage a “sacred, cornerstone of our society” and said opening it up to change could lead to “polygamist relationships, incestuous relationships.”
But for Wallen, the hearing and this fight isn’t just about politics, symbolism and equality. He said it’s about his life and his loss. It’s also about surviving right now.“We all know that part of the marriage vow is — in sickness and in health…”