Tag: DOMA

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To the US Supreme Court – “History is Watching”

From GetEqual.

Text of the video:

Since the birth of our nation, people held down by prejudice and discrimination have always moved slowly but inevitably toward justice and equality.

And throughout our history, the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States have been called upon to issue the critical rulings ensuring that our founding principles of justice and equality are delivered to those long denied them.

After centuries of injustice, countless generations lived in closets, through the watershed of Stonewall, the rise of Pride, the fight AGAINST AIDS, the fall of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and the demand that our relationships and our lives be shown the respect they deserve, the great weight of history has brought us to the doorstep of the Supreme Court. An unstoppable TIDAL wave is about to sweep over OUR NATION as our history and THOSE OF OUR JUSTICES WILL come together, forever united.

Major civil rights decisions are the most famous in the history of the court. The justices that MAKE the inevitable ruling of national marriage equality will secure their legacy’s forever. We have brought to your doorstep and laid at your feet your opportunity to craft one of the defining decisions of civil rights law for our republic, and with it, to define your legacy in history. If you let this opportunity slip away by ruling anything less than full national marriage equality, you will only be giving some future court the recognition for having done it. You have in your hands the power to bring to fruition decades of a people’s struggle for equality, and with it the opportunity of a jurist’s career to forever mark your name in our evolving understanding of the Constitution AND OUR COUNTRY’S PROMISE OF LIFE, LIBERTY & PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS FOR ALL.

Our equality will come. The only question is who will deliver it.

Equality is waiting…
History is watching…

For more info go to www.lighttojustice.org

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SCOTUS to release audio recordings of Prop 8 & DOMA oral arguments

The New York Times is reporting that the US Supreme Court will release same-day recordings of oral arguments in the Prop 8 and DOMA cases:

The last time the court allowed same-day access to such recordings was a year ago, when it heard three days of arguments over the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law. The court’s general practice in recent years has been to release audio recordings of arguments at the end of the week.

The court said the recording of the hourlong argument in the first case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, No. 12-144, would be available on its Web site by 1 p.m. on March 26. That case is a challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The recording of the argument in United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307, will last almost two hours and will be available by 2 p.m. on March 27, the court said. The case is a challenge of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

(via NYTimes)

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President Clinton writes op-ed urging SCOTUS to strike down DOMA

Former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA into law, has written an op-ed urging the US Supreme Court to overturn the discriminatory law.

President Clinton writes, in part:

Americans have been at this sort of a crossroads often enough to recognize the right path. We understand that, while our laws may at times lag behind our best natures, in the end they catch up to our core values. One hundred fifty years ago, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln concluded a message to Congress by posing the very question we face today: “It is not ‘Can any of us imagine better?’ but ‘Can we all do better?’ ”

The answer is of course and always yes. In that spirit, I join with the Obama administration, the petitioner Edith Windsor, and the many other dedicated men and women who have engaged in this struggle for decades in urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.

Read the entire op-ed at Washington Post.

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Obama Administration files brief supporting repeal of DOMA

President Obama’s administration filed an historic legal brief late Friday that declares his belief to the US Supreme Court that DOMA is unconstitutional. The brief was written by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

According to NBC News:

The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court on Friday to throw out a section of a 1996 federal law that prohibits recognition of same-sex marriage. 

The brief was filed Friday in United States v. Windsor, a case challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, the law that legally declares marriage to be only between a man and a woman. That section allows state and federal authorities to deny benefits to same-sex couples that are commonplace for heterosexual couples, like insurance for government workers and Social Security survivors’ benefits.

This marks the first time a president has endorsed same-sex marriage rights in the nation’s highest court.

The brief cites (among many other things) the Stonewall rebellion, gay parenting studies, and federal hate crime statistics. 

The brief reads in part: “Moral opposition to homosexuality, though it may reflect deeply held personal views, is not a legitimate policy objective that can justify unequal treatment of gay and lesbian people.”

Read the entire document here.

(via Towleroad)

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This is how DOMA impacts gay and lesbian service members

Marine Corps. Captain Matthew Phelps made history when he became the first gay man to ask his partner, Ben Schock, to marry him at the White House.

The Center for American Progress and OutServe/SLDN profile the soon-to-be-married couple in a video highlighting the financial struggles they’ll incur because of DOMA:

As long as DOMA remains in effect and the cost of his moving is taken into consideration, Capt. Phelps may expect to receive about $20,000 less in benefits and allowances than the other married servicemen that he serves beside.

(via Towleroad)

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Cleve Jones & David Mixner call for peaceful demonstrations regarding DOMA/Prop 8 SCOTUS cases

LGBTQ activist and author David Mixner Longtime LGBT activists Cleve Jones and David Mixner have posted “a call to action”, calling for local demonstrations and grassroots actions around the time the Supreme Court will hear the Prop 8 and DOMA cases on March 26 and 27. From Jones and Mixner: “Between us, we have over 80 years of experience in the movement for peace and social justice. In particular, as gay men, we have fought for the rights and dignity of our own community, known today as LGBT. We do not claim that age necessarily brings wisdom, but it does bring memories and we have many… Now is the time, once again, to recognize the unique moment before us and to act with the greatest power and intelligence possible.” The activists say the best way to deal with the rally being organized by the anti-gay National Organization to Marriage is to “ignore them.” Instead, they “encourage all LGBT advocates and all fair-minded Americans who believe in equality and justice to take part in public actions on during the last week of March.” Link to Facebook page: National Equality Action. (source)

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Major Corporations form new coalition to support repeal of DOMA

The Human Rights Campaign today announced a new coalition of corporations that is endorsing the Respect For Marriage Act, which would legislatively repeal DOMA.

A|X Armani Exchange, Aetna Inc., Biogen Idec, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Diageo North America, eBay Inc., Electronic Arts, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Marriott International Inc., Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, Replacements, Ltd., Sun Life Financial U.S., and Thomson Reuters are initial signees to the new Business Coalition supporting repeal of DOMA.

From HRC: “The Business Coalition for DOMA Repeal is a group of leading U.S. employers that support legislative efforts to repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act through the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act. These Coalition members recognize that DOMA is bad for business and have pledged their support for RMA, which restores the rights of all lawfully married couples—including same-sex couples – to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law.”

Said HRC President Chad Griffin: “These corporate pioneers understand one marriage deserves no less respect and dignity than any other marriage.They understand that repealing the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act is the right thing for our nation, and the smart thing for American business. We call on both large and small businesses to add their voices to the growing chorus calling for an end to this odious law.”

(from Towleroad)