Why Yes

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

History of DOMA

The Defense of Marriage Act is a federal law that has imposed on the rights of LGBT citizens since it was passed in 1996. In short, DOMA does two things: it prevents the federal government from recognizing state-sanctioned relationships between people of the same gender, and it allows the individual states to not recognize such relationships. (Normally, each state respects all American marriages created outside its borders.)

It may have been the law of the land for the past twelve years, but the view of DOMA has changed greatly in that time. Whether it is because they support the recognition of gay and lesbian families in legal marriage, or disagree with the principles of DOMA in regards to its legitimacy within our nation’s legal framework, many leaders across the United States have come to oppose it.

There are over 1,100 rights and responsibilities granted to married couples by the federal government alone. Because of DOMA, same-sex couples go without these rights even when their states recognize their relationships either through marriage or some other arrangement such as a civil union. This discrimination has had far-reaching effects on gay and lesbian families, and while the current President and many congressional leaders have promised to repeal DOMA, its supporters are waging an all-out campaign to keep it on the law books.

[read more]

Rights and Responsibilities Denied by DOMA

In 1997, the year the Defense of Marriage Act was passed, the United States General Accounting Office attempted to measure the new law’s influence by identifying all federal statutes which relate to marriage. They found a total of 1,049 statutes, and a 2004 update brought the number up to 1,138, covering thirteen categories.

Here are a few examples of the federal rights and benefits denied to same-sex married couples because of DOMA, including veteran's benefits, immigration rights, and employment benefits.