California Senator Dianne Feinstein is
trying to “cram gay marriages through Congress,” opponents have
warned.
Feinstein is the Senate sponsor of a
bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996
that bars federal agencies and the military from recognizing the
legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
The Democrat-controlled Senate
Judiciary Committee is expected on Thursday to vote the bill out of
committee.
Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional
Values Coalition condemned the move in an “URGENT” email to
supporters.
“Senate Democrats led by Dianne
Feinstein are once again trying [to] cram gay marriages through
Congress! We need to deliver 50,000 signatures in the next 48 hours
if we are to fight back against this reckless and liberal attack on
marriage!”
“On Thursday, the U.S. Senate
Judiciary Committee meets to do the unthinkable – redefine
marriage, repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and overturn the
will of the people in 41 states across the country,” Lafferty
added.
While the bill is expected to clear the
committee, the issue is a non-starter in the House, where its
speaker, John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, has approved $1.5
million to defend the law in court.
Social conservative groups Liberty
Counsel and Concerned Women for American are also rallying supporters
against the bill.
“Natural marriage benefits our
society by providing the ideal way to raise future generations,
stable relationships, and health benefits that same-sex preferences
do not,” Liberty
Counsel wrote in a blog post. “Government has the authority to
reward and defend natural marriage because of the good it creates in
our society.”