Rick Santorum Wants John Boehner to Defend DOMA

by Michael Jones · 2011-02-25 10:02:00 UTC
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Potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum has a message for Speaker of the House John Boehner. Santorum wants Boehner to back off trying to improve the economy and save jobs, and instead focus his efforts on institutionalizing marriage discrimination across the land.

Yup, Santorum tweeted this morning that he'd like to see Congress wade into the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) debate, and get involved with defending the 1996 law that prevents federal recognition of same-sex relationships. Earlier this week, the Obama administration made some major news when the Justice Department (via a statement from Attorney General Eric Holder) said that parts of DOMA were unconstitutional, and that the Obama administration would no longer defend DOMA in federal court.

Santorum's call for Boehner to step in and push back on the Obama administration's decision echoes the calls from various different hate groups, including the Family Research Council, the National Organization for Marriage, the American Family Association, and more. But equal rights activists are standing firm, and when it comes to the question of whether Boehner should get involved in defending DOMA, these activists have a two-word message that the Speaker of the House should be pretty familiar with: Hell no.

In fact, GetEqual is out with a direct call to action focused on Boehner, letting the Speaker of the House know that it would be irresponsible for him to decide to use taxpayer money and wade into the DOMA legal debate. DOMA is a discriminatory and unconstitutional law. Congress shouldn't be defending it.

"Now it is up to Speaker Boehner, and members of the House, to decide whether to spend taxpayer resources to defend DOMA or focus on the real issues plaguing our country such as foreclosures, health care, unemployment, and the economy," GetEqual writes. "Speaker Boehner has to make a decision by March 11 as to whether he will turn his attention away from creating jobs and toward upholding an unconstitutional and discriminatory law. We think the choice is simple -- tell Speaker Boehner to focus on job creation, not discrimination."

Amen to that. Get behind GetEqual's call by clicking here to send Speaker Boehner this very message.

There's no room in U.S. law for sexual orientation discrimination. That's a message Speaker Boehner, and the entire Congress deserves to hear loud and clear.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

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