Anti-gay marriage groups alarmed at the
election of a gay-affirming president are readying their forces and
shoring up their defenses to protect the federal Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA).
The Alliance for Marriage Foundation,
the group who drafted the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) in
Congress, unveiled a new website at www.ProtectDOMA.org
on Monday. The online resource gives facts and information about the
law that forbids any federal agency from recognizing legal gay
marriage. The law also allows states to ignore legal gay marriages
performed in another state.
The legislation was authored by
then-Republican Georgia Representative Bob Barr and signed into law
by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996. Proponents argued that
without the legislation gay activists would win the right to marry in
a single state and foist it upon the rest of the nation. In the
mid-1990's such a state was Hawaii. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme
Court ruled in Baehr v. Lewin that it was unconstitutional to
refuse gay couples the right to marry. However, the court stayed the
ruling and by 1998 the state had passed the first-ever gay marriage
ban amendment in the United States, essentially overruling the
court's decision.
“The repeal of DOMA is the
legislative Holy Grail for activists who want to impose their radical
social agenda upon America through the courts,” said Rev. Sam
Rodriguez, Jr., an AFM Advisory Board member and president of the
National Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) in a statement
announcing the new effort.
The election of President-elect Barack
Obama places the federal DOMA in peril.
While Obama does not support gay
marriage, he has said he believes in repeal of the federal DOMA and
granting gay couples civil unions.
“[President-elect Obama] believes we
need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that
would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits
currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to
same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized
unions,” the Obama-Biden transition website says.
During the presidential campaign, Obama
discussed how he would prefer to handle the repeal of the federal
DOMA with gay weekly Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark
Segal, who asked if he would back a lawsuit to unseat the anti-gay
legislation.
“I would want to review carefully any
lawsuit that was filed,” Obama answered. “This is probably my
carryover from being a constitutional lawyer. Here's where I can
tell you [what] my principle is: DOMA was an unnecessary encroachment
by the federal government in an area traditionally reserved for the
state. I think that it was primarily sent as a message to score
political points instead of work through these difficult issues. I
recognize why it was done. I'm sympathetic to the political
pressures involved, but I think that we need to bring it to a close
and my preference would be to work through a legislative solution. I
would also point out that if it's going before this court, I'm not
sure what chances it would have to be overturned. I think we're
going to have to take a different approach, but I am absolutely
committed to the concept it is not necessary.”
The upcoming 111th Congress'
political ideology will differ greatly from the 85% majority that
ratified the federal DOMA in 1996, setting the stage for possible
repeal.
Proponents of federal DOMA, however,
argue that the passage of three constitutional gay marriage bans on
Election Day – in California, Arizona and Florida – gives them
the political capital needed to keep the prohibition in effect.
“The new Congress gives
President-elect Barack Obama the legislative numbers he needs to
overturn DOMA,” said Rodriguez. “But will Congress follow his
agenda or stand with the vast majority of Americans who believe
marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Most states no longer need the law –
forty-five states prohibit gay marriage, thirty by constitutional
amendment. Only the District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey, New
Mexico and Rhode Island have yet to define marriage, but most of
those states lean left already. Gay couples in New Jersey and the
District of Columbia are granted civil unions or domestic
partnerships, while New York, New Mexico and Rhode Island recognize
legal gay marriages performed elsewhere.
However, federal agencies such as the
IRS might need to recognize gay couples who have married legally
(available in Massachusetts, Connecticut and six countries) or
entered into a civil union/domestic partnership (available in ten
states).
A defensive posture on the federal DOMA
before Obama's commitment to gay rights – and Congress' resolve in
following him – has been tested suggests the AMF is taking the risk
of repeal seriously.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's
largest gay and lesbian rights organization, lists repeal of federal
DOMA as a top priority.