THE END of the Defense of Marriage Act

A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION AND FOR MY CONTINUING BELIEF THAT OUR NATION , UNDER LAW, EVENTUALLY GETS THINGS RIGHT

IN 1996 President Bill Clinton signed DOMA into federal law. DOMA provided a traditional definition of marriage as being a legal arrangement between one woman and one man, The key provision of the law prohibited “married” same-sex couples such as my son David and son-in-law David, and Dave and Clyde Yoshida, from receiving the same federal tax, health, and retirement benefits that married couples like their parents have traditionally enjoyed.  It exempted all agencies from having to consider that married same-sex couples are related in any way, even if they may have domestic partnership status in their home state.. A particularly onerous consequence of that provision of DOMA was that hospitals could refuse to admit a visiting partner as next-of-kin of a critically ill patient.  An equally distasteful consequence of the passage of the bill into law in 1996 was that it confirmed for many Christians that their churches surely must be right to withhold affirmation and full participation in religious organizations from same-sex couples.  What a shameful denial of the central love basis for the Christian religion!  

Today the Supreme Court of the United States in a 5 to 4 decision has disappointed and angered many Christians by striking down DOMA.  The Supreme Court says “the federal government must provide the same benefits to same-sex spouses as opposite-sex spouses, if the same-sex marriage has been lawfully performed.  In other words, if a gay couple is married in a state that recognizes gay marriage, then the federal government will recognize that marriage on the same basis as traditional marriage.”  Both President Obama and former President Clinton issued statements supporting the Supreme Court decision.  President Clinton insisted that circumstances of the time compelled him to sign DOMA into law in 1996, and that he now views the law as clearly unconstitutional.  “Among other things, homosexual couples cannot file their taxes jointly, take unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured spouse, or receive equal family health and pension benefits as federal civilian employees,” Clinton said. “Yet they pay taxes, contribute to their communities, and, like all couples, aspire to live in committed, loving relationships, recognized and respected by our laws.”  President Obama praised the High Court’s ruling on DOMA  in a statement that the law “treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people.  The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it.”

Individuals in the religious right will be recognized under the federal law as the religious wrong if they refuse to grant benefits to all citizens equally if they have authority in agencies or organizations which are now directed by the court to do so.  Austin Nimocks, Senior Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group, said the High Court “got it wrong... and we need to be able to define what marriage is for state law.  American should be able to continue advancing the truth about marriage between a man and a woman and why it matters for children, civil society, and limited government.”  He said, “marriage--the union of a husband a wife-- is timeless, universal, and special, particularly because children need a mother and a father.  That’s why 38 states and 94 percent of countries worldwide affirm marriage as the union of a man and woman, just as diverse cultures and faiths have through history.”  

Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission called the ruling “far-reaching, with massive implications for family life and religious liberty.  The grounding of this decision in equal protection and human dignity means this is not simply a procedural matter of federalism.  This is a new legal reality.” He also said, “An eclipse of traditional marriage has Gospel implications.  Marriage is a picture, an embedded icon of Christ and the church.”

 The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the decisions a “tragic day for marriage and our nation.”  The decisions have “highlighted troubling questions about how our democratic and judicial system operate,” said a statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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In our house... another reason for celebration:  Edward Markey won the Massachusetts senate race!   Yeaaaah!