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.

07/07/2011

Defense of Marriage Act

Wedding Planning: New York-Style

By Michael Cummings, New York Civil Liberties Union at 1:06pm

With New York State's new law giving lesbian and gay couples the freedom to marry set to take effect on July 24, thousands of same-sex couples are facing complex and serious questions regarding their rights — questions most wedding planners can't answer.

12/11/2012

Defense of Marriage Act

What the Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear a Challenge to DOMA Should Mean for Same-Sex Bi-National Couples

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:41pm

On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Edie Windsor’s challenge to the discriminatory, so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Despite the fact that Edie and her late spouse, Thea Spyer, were together for more than four decades and were legally married in Canada in 2007, DOMA required the federal government to treat the couple as legal strangers. When Thea passed away in 2009, Edie was forced to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate taxes that would have otherwise been zero had she been married to a man.

07/27/2012

Defense of Marriage Act

ACLU Urges Critical LGBT and HIV/AIDS Updates to 2012 Democratic National Platform

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:20pm

The ACLU has been invited to offer our civil liberties and civil rights recommendations to the Democratic National Committee’s “platform drafting committee,” which is currently meeting in Minneapolis to begin the process of putting together the 2012 Democratic National Platform. While the ACLU is a nonpartisan organization, we welcome opportunities to infuse a respect for and commitment to civil liberties in the political process. We would also be pleased to offer our views to the Republican National Committee’s platform drafters.

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.

11/15/2011

Respect for Marriage Act

"Repeal DOMA" Prominent Governors and Mayors Urge Congress

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 6:09pm

This week, a group of prominent state governors and big city mayors from across the country urged Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

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!

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.

09/23/2011

Respect for Marriage Act

Effort to Repeal DOMA in Congress Gains Bipartisan Support

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:43pm

Early on Friday morning, it was announced that the legislative effort in Congress to repeal the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is now a bipartisan affair.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) became the first Republican cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 1116/S. 598), legislation pending in both the House and Senate that would repeal DOMA in its entirety, as well as provide all married couples certainty that regardless of where they travel or move in the country, they will not be treated as strangers under federal law.

08/15/2011

Defense of Marriage Act

NOM Marriage Pledge: A Discriminatory, Tone-Deaf Pitfall

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:45pm

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been asking presidential hopefuls to sign a pledge stating, among other things, that they would:

support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring recognition of marriages involving same-sex couples;

• defend the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) against federal court challenges;

08/12/2011

Respect for Marriage Act

The Congressional Evolution on DOMA

By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:19am

There is an intriguing story behind the recent Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) headlines, one that mirrors trends in public opinion surveys, but involves a group you might not expect — members of Congress who voted for the law in 1996, but now favor its repeal.

Back in July, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a landmark hearing on DOMA, exploring how it impacts married gay and lesbian couples and their families across the country. The hearing got me thinking about the now infamous '96 congressional vote in favor of DOMA. Defenders of the law, exemplified by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) at the July hearing, often like to tout the original congressional vote totals in support of DOMA (342 in the House and 85 in the Senate) as the end of the story. In essence, they say, why change a law that garnered so many bipartisan votes when it was passed?

American Civil Liberties Union