DOJ to no longer defend DOMA

[peacepipe]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_827134.html

WASHINGTON -- In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act "contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships - precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution's)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against."

[Smiling Assassin27]

That post is misleading. It's not the entire act which was tossed under the bus, but rather only section 3 which is the federal definition of marriage that overrides states and their definitions. States still do not have to give acknowledgment to same sex marriages from other states if they choose not to.

http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/LETTER_-_BOEHNER.pdf

After careful consideration, including review ofa recommendation from me, the President ofthe United States has made the determination that Section 3 ofthe Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA"), 1 U.S.C. § 7, 1 as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.

[TheElusiveKyleOrton]

Red meat is delicious.

[Smiling Assassin27]

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by Smiling Assassin27

States still do not have to give acknowledgment to same sex marriages from other states if they choose not to.

Really? With the anti-gay faction try to follow the '50s racists and have gay couples arrested if they enter a state that bans gay marriage?

What about the 14th Amendment?

[Garcia Bronco]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Really? With the anti-gay faction try to follow the '50s racists and have gay couples arrested if they enter a state that bans gay marriage?

What about the 14th Amendment?

Homosexuality is not a protected class. Like say race or the elderly. To me, this is Feds getting out of what should a state decision. I applaud it.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Really? With the anti-gay faction try to follow the '50s racists and have gay couples arrested if they enter a state that bans gay marriage?

What about the 14th Amendment?

Totally separate issue. what I'm saying is that New Mexico still won't have to acknowledge a gay marriage that occurred in Vermont in its administration of state law unless it chooses to. This is because this issue is not a point of contention in any lawsuit concerning DOMA.

If a state bans gay marriage, it's not making gay marriage punishable by law. What it is doing is saying that same sex marriage does not exist in that state and that couples married in other states are not recognized as a legal marriage in that state. Criminalizing gay marriage can't occur if gay marriage cannot exist legally in a state.

One could SAY they were married but since the state they're in doesn't recognize that status, they are not breaking the hypothetical law of being gay and married in that state.

Long way around, I know, but this ruling does a whole lot less than we're being led to believe.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Homosexuality is not a protected class. Like say race or the elderly. To me, this is Feds getting out of what should a state decision. I applaud it.

I concur.

The DOJ has essentially kicked the ball back to Congress. Let's hope they spend their time on more production legislation than this one.

[Play2win]

Good! So Affirmative Action will be the next thing to GO... KOOL!!