Singer-songwriter Henry Rollins has
slammed House Speaker John Boehner's decision to defend the Defense
of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The president recently announced his
administration would no longer defend the law because he believes
parts of it are unconstitutional. The 1996 law ban federal agencies
from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples and
allows states to ignore such marriages from out of state.
On Friday, House
Majority Leader John Boehner announced the creation of a five-member
panel to consider whether to instruct the House's nonpartisan Office
of the General Counsel to defend the law.
The Republican-controlled panel is
expected to defend the law in court.
In
an op-ed published in Vanity Fair, the 50-year-old Rollins
said it was “about damn time” the president made the decision,
and went on to slam Boehner.
“Of course same sex marriage is
constitutional! The right to be yourself, to pursue life, liberty,
and property, is protected several ways over several amendments. John
Boehner should know this. If only he read the Constitution as often
as some of us do, he wouldn’t have bothered to lower himself to
this time-wasting, pathetic attempt to invigorate his base of
supporters.”
“Damn, congressman, we’re trying to
get up the road here. Either lay out a plan for job creation for all
of us to see or get out of the way. You are the Speaker of the House.
Scratching around in the ancient dirt of repellent prejudice instead
of tackling the real issues is amateur hour. You have a plan? Now’s
the time.”