Obama Administration Won't Defend the Defense of Marriage Act

For nearly two years, the Obama administration has defended the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court, upholding a law designed to discriminate against legally married same-sex couples. Now, after careful consideration by the Department of Justice, the Obama administration has announced that it will no longer defend DOMA in federal court, and called parts of DOMA “unconstitutional.”

“The President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional.  Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases.”

This is important news that paves the way for getting rid of discriminatory laws like DOMA once and for all.

Several marriage equality organizations were in celebration mode this afternoon, noting that this somewhat surprising development is going to go down in history as a sign that DOMA's days are numbered.

"The Administration today acknowledges that there is no legitimate reason for this discrimination and therefore it cannot be defended under the Constitution. This a momentous step forward toward Freedom to Marry's goal of ending federal marriage discrimination and fully protecting all loving and committed couples," said Evan Wolfson, the Executive Director of Freedom to Marry.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, perhaps the fiercest advocate for marriage equality in the U.S. Senate, weighed in with a similar message, saying point blank that there's no room for sexual orientation discrimination in U.S. law.

"The fact is that history is moving in a direction that ensures gay and lesbian couples are offered the same basic rights as everyone else – the right to get married, start a family and receive the full benefits that come with it, and be counted the same as everyone else. I look forward to the day when New York and all states accept this basic principle of fairness," Sen. Gillibrand said.

Who would have thought a statement like that would be in our future when DOMA was signed into law 16 years ago? Let this be the beginning of the end of DOMA.

But we’re not quite there yet. That's why, while it's time to send the President a message of thanks for his decision not to defend DOMA, it's also a time to remind President Obama that his administration needs to get behind a full repeal of DOMA. Indeed, less than a few hours after word broke that the Justice Department wouldn't be defending DOMA, Sen. Dianne Feinstein issued a statement saying that she would be introducing a DOMA repeal bill in the U.S. Senate in the near future.

That's a good sign. So send that message of thanks to President Obama, and also let him know that DOMA needs to end with full and total repeal.

Photo credit: The White House