The Votes are there to Repeal DOMA

by Michael Jones · 2009-05-19 07:54:00 UTC
Topics:

Conyers

So says Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich).  But he's not quite talking about the full U.S. House and U.S. Senate yet, only the House Judiciary Committee, which would have to approve any DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) repeal bill first.  Still, welcome progress...and great to see Conyers pushing this forward.  Here's the lowdown from the Michigan Messenger:

Congressman John Conyers, D-Detroit, said Saturday in an interview with Michigan Messenger that the votes are in place in the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Gay rights advocates have been working to get the law repealed as more states pass laws allowing same-sex couples to get married.

“Well in my committee, yes, but in the House and Senate, that’s a different question,” Conyers said in terms of a DOMA repeal passing.

Asked if he supported marriage equality for the gay community, the Congressman replied, “Sure. I always have.”

Conyers made news earlier this week by asking this question of Obama: “Why is [Obama] becoming so conservative now that he’s got the job?”  For folks angry about Obama's wish-washiness lately on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and his silence on marriage equality, Conyers offered somewhat of a voice to the voiceless in asking that question.

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.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Fighting Back Against School-wide Homophobia
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (5)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.