The Defense of Marriage Act is already losing in the court of public opinion as a case challenging its constitutionality is about to be heard by the US Supreme Court.

A new poll found that 59 percent of Americans are against DOMA after being informed that the law prohibits the federal government from offering benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married.

The percentage of those against DOMA is actually higher than the 52 percent of people in the poll who said they are in favor of gay marriage in general. Also, 62 percent of respondents - including some of those who are against gay marriage - agree that 'it is discrimination for the federal government to deny marriage protections and benefits to legally married same-sex couples.'

'The findings of this poll should provide significant headwinds to LGBT advocates and allies and demonstrate to the Court that the thinking behind DOMA is outdated and indefensible,' said Winnie Stachelberg of the Center for American Progress and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders which commissioned the poll.

The results of the poll are based on a live interviewer telephone survey conducted January 23 – 27 among 802 registered voters in the US.

Federal appeals courts in New York and Boston ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional - rulings appealed to the Supreme Court by the Republicans.

The justices have agreed to hear the New York case which was filed by Edith Windsor who sued because she was required to pay a $350,000 federal estate tax bill. The government does not recognize her marriage to her late wife Thea Spyer.

Related articles

• POLLS: DOMA Is Discrimination, Equality Is Inevitable (thinkprogress.org)
• Majority Of Americans Oppose Gay Marriage Ban DOMA (ontopmag.com)
• Obama Considers Weighing In On Prop. 8 Supreme Court Case (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com)

Obama Administration Wouldn’t Defend Blocking Military Benefits From Same-Sex Couples | TPMDC

When DADT was finally ended last year, a glaring anomaly was that lesbian or gay service men could serve openly - but if married could not enjoy all the usual employment benefits available to opposite - sex couples. An important decision by the Department of Justice means that will now change: the discriminatory legislation will no longer be defended in court.
 

The Obama Justice Department has concluded that legislation banning same-sex couples from receiving military and veterans benefits violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and will no longer defend the statute in court, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders on Friday.

“The legislative record of these provisions contains no rationale for providing veterans’ benefits to opposite-sex couples of veterans but not to legally married same-sex spouses of veterans,” Holder wrote. “Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs identified any justifications for that distinction that would warrant treating these provisions differently from Section 3 of DOMA.”

TPMDC

'via Blog this'

Gay troops to file suit challenging Defense of Marriage Act

"Gay and lesbian troops and veterans plan to file suit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of the federal ban on gay marriage and federal policy that defines a spouse as a person of the opposite sex.

Casey and Shannon McClaughlin, and family 

The suit comes five weeks after the Pentagon ended its ban on gays in the military.

Lawyers plan to file suit in federal district court in Boston, the same court that ruled last year that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because the law interferes with a state’s right to define marriage. The decision in on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit."

 - The Washington Post 

DOD Allows Same-Sex Couple To Attend Family Event

"“The Department of Defense has clarified regulations that will allow Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan of the New Hampshire National Guard to bring her same-sex partner to a yellow ribbon family reintegration event in North Conway this weekend,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen just announced in a press release. Shaheen had written a letter urging Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to review the military’s regulations prohibiting same-sex couples from attending such events. “This is terrific news for Charlie Morgan and her family,” said Shaheen. “But this is just one small part of a much larger problem. We have a fundamental inequity in our policy, which has created two classes of soldiers. It isn’t fair and it has to end.” Indeed, while gays and lesbians can now serve openly, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act still denies same-sex couples and their families access to federal benefits."

ThinkProgress

Republican lawmaker calls for repeal of marriage law

"Florida U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has signed onto a new effort to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

The bill's sponsor, Brooklyn Democrat U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, says Ros-Lehtinen is the first Republican to do so. He hopes her voice will convince other GOP lawmakers.

Under current law, the federal government recognizes only marriages between men and women. That means even same sex couples who wed in the six states that have legalized gay marriage can't enjoy federal marriage benefits like tax breaks, social security and hospital visitation rights. The bill would return the definition of marriage to the states.

Nadler filed it in March. Ros-Lehtinen became the 125th co-sponsor Friday. Ros-Lehtinen is chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Her district includes an influential gay community."

 - WSJ.com

Related articles

• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Becomes First Republican To Cosponsor DOMA Repeal (brandtstandard.com)
• DOMA repeal gets first Republican sponsor (sfgate.com)
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Supports DOMA Repeal. Does She Realize She's A Republican? (queerty.com)