Supreme Court strikes down Defense of Marriage Act

In a landmark ruling for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law blocking federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

The decision was 5-4, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

"DOMA instructs all federal officials, and indeed all persons with whom same-sex couples interact, including their own children, that their marriage is less worthy than the marriages of others," the ruling said. "The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity."

Cheers went up outside the Supreme Court, where supporters of gay marriage waved signs, rainbow banners and flags with equality symbols.

The law helps determine who is covered by more than 1,100 federal laws, programs and benefits, including Social Security survivor benefits, immigration rights and family leave.

The ruling comes as states are authorizing gay marriage with increasing speed — 12 plus the District of Columbia now allow it — and with public opinion having turned narrowly in favor of gay marriage.

Under the law, gay couples who are legally married in their states were not considered married in the eyes of the federal government, and were ineligible for the federal benefits that come with marriage.

The case before the Supreme Court, U.S. v. Windsor, concerned Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, a lesbian couple who lived together in New York for 44 years and married in Canada in 2007.

When Spyer died in 2009, Windsor was hit with $363,000 in federal estate taxes. Had the couple been considered by the federal government to be married, Windsor would not have incurred those taxes.

President Bill Clinton signed the act into law in September 1996. A court ruling in Hawaii had raised the prospect that that state might become the first to authorize gay marriage.

At the time, some members of Congress believed that the Defense of Marriage Act might be a compromise that would take the air out of a movement to amend the Constitution to block gay marriage.

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droomph said:

so this is news because………………

I don't get people.

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Mr. X said:

The court only struck down one aspect of it.

What was declared unconstitutional was the provision prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from enjoying the tax breaks, pension benefits, and other monetary benefits that hetero couples enjoy.

It still leaves in place the provision saying that states don't have to recognize gay marriages from other states.

It's a win and a loss really - This is a benefit to those getting married or who are married, but it's not going to help those who are in states that prohibit gay marriage or those who refuse to recognize gay marriages from other states. A minor victory at most, since the more harmful provision is still legal.

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Nancy Pelosi said:

"Who cares?"

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Jay_37040 said:

It's news because the LGBT community is a oppressed minority and these rulings today by the Supreme Court just made that oppression a little less effective. Seriously, I would have thought it would be obvious why this would be newsworthy.

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droomph said:

I thought it would be a little more obvious that I was being sarcastic also.

My point being, I don't understand why this is a big issue. Why are we debating this when we could talk about a whole host of other things, such as poverty, crime, and better acces to support for quality of life?

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