In discussing President Barack Obama's
recent decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), Pat Vaughn, general counsel for the socially conservative
group American Family Association (AFA), said he believes the law is
unconstitutional.
The
president on Wednesday ordered the Department of Justice to stop
defending the law in court, because he believes it violates the
U.S. Constitution. The 15-year-old law bans federal agencies from
recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples and allows
states to ignore such marriages.
AFA Report co-host Ed Vitagliano
asked Vaughn if he agreed with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's
claim that the move is an impeachable offense.
“I think that Newt Gingrich is an
astute politician and he is playing this for all it's worth,”
Vaughn answered. “I think that marriage is defined by God as
between a man and a woman.”
“However, the Defense of Marriage Act
is probably unconstitutional, particularly … if you attempt to
apply it so that to say that a marriage conducted in one state is not
in effect in another. That clearly violates the Constitution.”
(The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
“Right now, someone is in Hell doing
triple axels while dodging flying pigs,” Jeremy
Hooper said in blogging about the news.
The AFA is considered one of the
nation's leading opponents of LGBT rights.