Federal Judge Rules Part of DOMA Unconstitutional
Posted by Roobs on July 8, 2010
I just wanted to share some good news for the LGBT community. A Federal Judge has ruled part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed back in 1996 banning Federal recognition of same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional. This is really great news and one that, though I would like to talk about at length, don’t have time to. So please read Robert Cruickshank’s post on the ruling. Excerpt below.
As we await the ruling from Judge Vaughn Walker on Perry v. Schwarzenegger, we just received word about a decision in two marriage equality suits. A federal judge in Massachusetts just ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law passed in 1996 that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage and enables states to withhold recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states, is unconstitutional.
The ruling in the cases, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Health and Human Services and Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, does not strike down DOMA in its entirety. But what it does appear to do is to remove the ban on the federal government’s recognition of same-sex marriage.
You can and should read Robert’s full post at Prop 8 Trial Tracker!
