U.S. government's reversal seen as a win for gay rights
Comments
In related news
MARYLAND: The state Senate will vote today on whether to legalize gay marriage. Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, has said he will sign the measure, which would make Maryland the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriages.
CALIFORNIA: Lawyers for two same-sex couples again asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to allow gay marriage to resume in California while the appeals court considers the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex unions.
HAWAII: Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed same-sex civil unions into law Wednesday, calling it "a triumph for everyone" that gay and lesbian couples will have the same state rights as married partners. Civil unions in the Rainbow State would start Jan. 1, 2012.
CALIFORNIA: Lawyers for two same-sex couples again asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to allow gay marriage to resume in California while the appeals court considers the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex unions.
HAWAII: Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed same-sex civil unions into law Wednesday, calling it "a triumph for everyone" that gay and lesbian couples will have the same state rights as married partners. Civil unions in the Rainbow State would start Jan. 1, 2012.
Washington, D.C. — President Barack Obama ordered his administration on Wednesday to stop defending the constitutionality of a federal law that bans recognition of gay marriage.
The policy reversal could have major implications for the rights and benefits of gay couples.
Obama still is grappling with his personal views on whether gays should be allowed to marry, but he has long opposed the federal law as being unnecessary and unfair, said spokesman Jay Carney.
The policy reversal could have major implications for the rights and benefits of gay couples.
Obama still is grappling with his personal views on whether gays should be allowed to marry, but he has long opposed the federal law as being unnecessary and unfair, said spokesman Jay Carney.
First word of the change came not from the White House but from the Justice Department. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Obama had concluded the 15-year-old Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was legally indefensible.
The decision was immediately welcomed by gay rights organizations and vilified by those on the other side.
The outcome of a certain new round of political debate could have enormous impact because federal laws and regulations confer more than 1,000 rights or benefits on those who are married, most involving money — Social Security survivors' benefits, family and medical leave, equal compensation as federal employees and immigration rights.
The decision was immediately welcomed by gay rights organizations and vilified by those on the other side.
The outcome of a certain new round of political debate could have enormous impact because federal laws and regulations confer more than 1,000 rights or benefits on those who are married, most involving money — Social Security survivors' benefits, family and medical leave, equal compensation as federal employees and immigration rights.
"Much of the legal landscape has changed in the 15 years since Congress passed DOMA," Holder said.
Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia now have legal gay marriages since the law was passed in 1996, and others allow civil unions.
An Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll conducted last August found 52 percent of Americans saying the federal government should give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex.
Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia now have legal gay marriages since the law was passed in 1996, and others allow civil unions.
An Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll conducted last August found 52 percent of Americans saying the federal government should give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex.
Thirty states have constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.
The White House framed Obama's decision as one brought on by a legal deadline in a federal court case challenging the constitutionality of the law, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.
The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now. But Holder said Obama concluded the law fails to meet a rigorous standard under which courts view with suspicion any laws targeting minority groups, such as gays, who have suffered a history of discrimination — a stricter standard of scrutiny than the department has applied in the past.
The White House framed Obama's decision as one brought on by a legal deadline in a federal court case challenging the constitutionality of the law, which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.
The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now. But Holder said Obama concluded the law fails to meet a rigorous standard under which courts view with suspicion any laws targeting minority groups, such as gays, who have suffered a history of discrimination — a stricter standard of scrutiny than the department has applied in the past.
Looking back to Congress' debate on the legislation, Holder said it was clear that there were "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."
Among those affected by the marriage law were a lesbian couple from New York City, Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer. After four decades together, they married in Canada in 2007, and that marriage was recognized in New York.
Among those affected by the marriage law were a lesbian couple from New York City, Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer. After four decades together, they married in Canada in 2007, and that marriage was recognized in New York.
However, it was not recognized by the federal government. One result, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, was a $350,000 federal tax on Spyer's estate when she died in 2009 that Windsor would not have had to pay if she were in a heterosexual marriage.
Windsor said she was elated by the Justice Department's announcement.
"My only regret is that my beloved late spouse ... isn't here today to share in this historic moment," she said. "But in my heart, I feel that she knows."
Windsor said she was elated by the Justice Department's announcement.
"My only regret is that my beloved late spouse ... isn't here today to share in this historic moment," she said. "But in my heart, I feel that she knows."
Holder said his department will bring the policy change to the attention of the federal courts now hearing Windsor's challenge in New York City and another case in Connecticut that challenges the federal government's denial of marriage-related protections for federal Family Medical Leave Act benefits, and federal laws concerning private pension plans and state pension plans.
