John Kerry Rips Apart the Defense of Marriage Act

Here's a fast fact about John Kerry: In 1996, during what was his most competitive U.S. Senate campaign ever, Kerry was the only Senator up for re-election to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  Kerry even outdid Senator Paul Wellstone on the vote, who is long considered one of the most progressive faces to ever land on Capitol Hill.

Fast forward thirteen years later, and Sen. Kerry is back again with blasts against DOMA. Today it comes in the form of a statement supporting Martha Coakley, Massachusetts's Attorney General, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state against the U.S. goverment, challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.  We wrote about the lawsuit earlier this week, but essentially Coakley's lawsuit says the U.S. government, by following DOMA, is discriminating against the more than 16,000 same-sex couples married in Massachusetts by unfairly denying them federal benefits.

Kerry's statement today takes the cake.  Here it is:

In 1996, I voted against the so-called Defense of Marriage Act not just because I believed it was nothing more than a fundamentally political ploy to divide Americans, but because it is unconstitutional. Thirteen years later, I still defy you to find a single Senator who can credibly argue that it is within the Senate’s power to strip away the word or spirit of a constitutional clause by simple statute. DOMA should never have passed and should never have become the law of the land. Unconstitutional and fundamentally unfair, today the human cost is especially clear and compelling. Denying same sex couples the same rights and protections under the law as enjoyed by opposite sex couples has absolutely nothing to do with defending marriage. This lawsuit is a necessary step in ensuring everyone in Massachusetts can live their lives and raise their families secure in the knowledge that their commitment to each other doesn’t make them any less an American than their heterosexual families, friends and neighbors.

Of course, Kerry's statement has broader implications beyond the borders of Massachusetts.  The truth is that DOMA denies federal benefits to gay and lesbian couples married in all six states that recognize marriage equality (Mass., Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine).

Now here's wondering if Senator Kerry would be willing to add his name to the growing list of Senators who favor marriage equality.