Florida Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen is
coming under attack for her support of a bill that would repeal the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law which forbids federal
agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian
couples.
Ros-Lehtinen on Friday became the first
Republican to sign onto the effort, becoming the 125th
co-sponsor of the proposed legislation in the House.
“I voted against the constitutional
amendment defining marriage, so I'm pleased to co-sponsor the repeal
of DOMA and work with my colleagues on marriage equality,” said
Ros-Lehtinen in a statement.
Brian Brown, the president of the
National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the nation's most
vociferous opponent of gay marriage, targeted the lawmaker in an
email to supporters.
“Gay marriage activists know they
don't need to persuade the Republican grassroots to support same-sex
marriage – they just need to split off enough GOP elite opinion to
provide cover as they force SSM on the entire nation. Several
prominent GOP elites have already signed on, and gay marriage
activists are spending millions of dollars to pressure and persuade
more Republican lawmakers that they can support same-sex marriage
without consequence,” Brown said.
“And maybe it's time Congresswoman
Ros-Lehtinen started looking for a new job,” he added.
Tony Perkins of the Christian
conservative Family Research Council (FRC) stated Ros-Lehtinen “has
joined the dark side by becoming the first Republican to co-sponsor
bills that boost counterfeit marriage.”