The Supreme Court has been asked to
hear a fourth case related to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the
1996 law which outlaws federal agencies from recognizing the legal
marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
On Wednesday, the Massachusetts-based
legal group Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) asked
the high court to review a case challenging the constitutionality of
the law.
Last month, a federal district court
judge in Connecticut ruled in Pederson v. Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) that DOMA violates the Constitutional rights of
gay and lesbian couples.
Judge Vanessa Bryant issued a 104-page
ruling, which concluded that the “Court finds that no conceivable
rational basis exists for the provision.”
“The provision [Section 3 of DOMA]
therefore violates the equal protection principles incorporated in
the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Lead plaintiff Joanne Pedersen, a
federal retiree, was blocked from adding her wife Ann Meitzer to her
health insurance.
“We aim to provide the Supreme Court
all the evidence it needs to overturn DOMA finally, and quickly,”
GLAD said in a statement announcing its filing.
Three of the four cases appealed to the
high court have yet to be considered by federal courts of appeals.
In addition to the four DOMA cases, the
Supreme Court has also been asked to review a ruling which found
California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, to be unconstitutional.
Analysts believe the court will accept
at least one of the cases when it returns from summer recess.