Defense of Marriage Act

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a federal law passed in 1996 that both created a federal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman and expressly gave states permission to refuse to recognize marriages entered into by same-sex couples in other jurisdictions. The part of DOMA that defines marriage at the federal level – known as Section 3 – was a radical departure from 220 years of federal practice, which was to rely on each state to define marriage and to recognize any marriage legally entered into under state law as a valid marriage for federal purposes.

We are challenging Section 3 of DOMA on behalf of our client Edie Windsor in Windsor v. United States, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court of the United States. In June, the Court will rule on whether DOMA violates equal protection by treating married gay couples as unmarried in over 1,100 federal programs.

04/29/2013

LGBT News

First Major League Athlete Comes Out

By Shawn Jain, ACLU at 2:37pm

"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."

With these 12 words and a powerful feature in the new issue of Sports Illustrated, Jason Collins has come forward as the first male athlete to openly identify as gay while still being active in major league American sports. And with it, the dizzying pace of progress in LGBT rights and visibility of LGBT people continues on its awesome forward march.

03/20/2013

Voices Against DOMA

What The Windsor Case Means To Me And My Family

By Robert H., Teen Activist Project Member, NYCLU at 12:09pm

What marriage equality has meant to me and my family has changed greatly over our lives. When my parents were born, in the mid-1950s, the idea of ever having an open, public discussion of sexual orientation seemed impossible, and marriage for gay and lesbian couples wasn't even remotely imaginable. Now, in my lifetime and theirs, my parents have gotten married, and it is entirely possible that their marriage will be recognized by our government in the same way that everyone else's is. It's both exciting and dramatic, and I never know whether I believe it will happen.

05/10/2012

Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Anti-Gay Pandering Cannot Stop Historic Momentum for LGBT Rights

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:10pm

What an amazing and historic week it has been for the cause of gay rights. On Wednesday, for the first time in our country’s history, a sitting President of the United States said that he supports the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples. President Obama’s remarks carry incredible symbolic importance, and his explanation of the evolution in his own thinking that brought him to this point will be something to which millions of Americans can relate. It is representative of a journey that many men and women – both young and old – have taken in coming to the conclusion that what marriage is really about is love and commitment, and that is something that is true for both gay and straight couples.

10/05/2011

DADT

New Federal Rule Underscores Importance of DOMA Repeal

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:23pm

On Friday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final rule in the Federal Register to provide eligible federal employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave for "qualifying exigency purposes." Just what are qualifying exigencies, you ask yourself? Well, under the rule, qualifying exigencies arise when the spouse, son, daughter or parent of an employee is on active duty in the Armed Forces, or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty status.

07/12/2011

Defense of Marriage Act

Landmark Hearing on DOMA Set

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 6:11pm

It’s official! Next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a landmark congressional hearing on the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and how it harms tens of thousands of married gay and lesbian couples and their families each and every day. This will be the first congressional hearing since the law came into being in 1996 to examine the law with a critical eye.

04/19/2011

Defense of Marriage Act

The Media Hearts Edie!

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 5:03pm

We just love Edie Windsor, the lead plaintiff in our case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). And it looks like the media agrees!

You'll recall in February, President Obama and the Department of Justice decided that they would not defend DOMA in court . They believe it's unconstitutional. They're right.

By declining to defend DOMA, the ball bounced into Congress's court, and House Speaker John Boehner stepped up to defend the law. On Monday, the House of Representatives filed a brief to intervene in the lawsuit .

03/21/2013

Voices Against DOMA

Marriage Equality is a Workers' Rights Issue

By Nicole G. Berner, Associate General Counsel, Service Employees International Union & Elena Medina, Law Fellow, Service Employees International Union at 12:09pm

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in two historic cases relating to marriage equality. In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Justices will consider the constitutionality of...

06/06/2012

Defense of Marriage Act

Another DOMA Win!

By James Esseks, Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & AIDS Project at 7:44pm

When it rains, it pours! Late this afternoon, another federal judge ruled that the so-called federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the federal constitution. The ruling came in an ACLU case brought by Edie Windsor after the death of her spouse and partner of 44 years, Thea Spyer.

Edie and Thea became a couple way back in 1965. By 1967, long before marriage for same-sex couples was anything more than a pipe dream, Thea proposed marriage to Edie – that’s just what their relationship meant to them. Thea couldn’t give her an engagement ring, because Edie wouldn’t have been able to explain it to her colleagues at IBM, so she gave her a diamond pin instead. They were inseparable for the next four decades.

04/16/2012

Religious Discrimination

A Look at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:31pm

In 1998, Congress created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to draw attention to violations of religious freedom in other countries. The commissioners vote annually to list countries that are of particular concern or place others on a watch list of countries that should be monitored closely for religious freedom violations.

But, since its inception, the commission's been beset by controversy. People who watch the commission closely say it was created to satisfy special interests, which has led to bias in the commission's work. Past commissioners and staff have reported that the commission is "rife, behind-the-scenes, with ideology and tribalism." They've said that commissioners focus "on pet projects that are often based on their own religious background." In particular, past commissioners and staff reported "an anti-Muslim bias runs through the Commission's work."

11/10/2011

Respect for Marriage Act

VICTORY! Senate Committee Votes to Repeal DOMA

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:46am

Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Respect for Marriage Act by a vote of 10-8!

American Civil Liberties Union