lesbian marriage

DOMA no longer to be defended by Federal Government

The Obama administration moved closer to officially recognizing the right of same sex couples to marry. It was done in a reverse sort of way. As reported by the Washington Post “The Obama administration said Wednesday that it will no longer defend the federal law that bans the recognition of same-sex marriage because it considers the legislation unconstitutional….” (click here for full story from the Washington Post).

It seems the administration recognizes that sooner or later the fedral law defining marriage as between man and woman will be overturned. But in this manner, he seems to making it easier for the courts to make that determination, since it may take a very long time for the legislature to do so.

Like the ancient Chinese proverb says “We live in interesting times.”


Massachusetts Gay Marriage “Stay” in place

In July, a U.S. District judge in Massachusetts, in Gill v. Office of Personnel, found part of a federal law allowing states (or perhaps the federal government) to refuse to recognize a gay marriage from another state to be unconstitutional. But he has just put a “stay” on his ruling to see if the government will appeal (click for a link to the story). The case is not so much about whether gay people may marry, but whether the federal government must respect a state’s determination of whether someone is married or not. The actual decision (not the “stay”) may be read by clicking on this sentence.

This seems to be one more case weakening “DOMA”, the Defense of Marriage Act. These are interesting times.