Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl favors
repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Kohl is the remaining Democrat on the
Senate Judiciary Committee who has yet to co-sponsor the legislation
that aims to repeal the law that bans the federal government from
recognizing the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
The California-based gay rights group
Courage Campaign had mounted a campaign urging Kohl to co-sponsor the
bill.
“We just heard from Sen. Kohl's
office: he will become the 10th and final vote we need on
the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass S. 598, the Respect for
Marriage Act, out of committee,” the
group wrote in a blog post.
Democrats renewed an effort to repeal
the law after President Barack Obama announced he would no longer
defend the law in court. Obama said he believed parts of the law
were unconstitutional.
The
effort in the Senate to bury the law was introduced at a press
conference last month by California Senator Dianne Feinstein.
The Democrat announced her bill flanked by Democratic Senators
Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Chris Coons of Delaware and Richard
Blumenthal of Connecticut. Feinstein, Coons and Blumenthal also
serve on the Judiciary Committee.
Kohl vote for DOMA in 1996.