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Philine Tran Slide 2 Defense of Marriage Act H.R. 3396 104th Congress (19951996 ) federal law that denies federal recognition of same- sex marriages and authorizes states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages licensed in other states. Slide 3 Hawaii DOMA was passed out of the fear that a lawsuit in Hawaii would force that state to recognize same-sex marriages Slide 4 Full Faith and Credit Clause U.S. Constitution's Article IV, Section 1 states are expected to recognize the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state Slide 5 Congress alarmed at the prospect of a gay/lesbian couple being married in Hawaii If they moved to another state & expecting that state to recognize them as legally married did not want to grant same-sex couples to get same federal benefits as legally married heterosexual couples Slide 6 Introduction of the bill House of Representatives Sponsor - Georgia Representative Bob Barr Republican May 7, 1996 Authored DOMA 117 co -sponsors Senate Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma Slide 7 Became public law Slide 8 1 st Provision no state, territory, or Indian tribe shall be required to legally recognize a "relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of another state, territory, or Indian tribe." Full Faith and Credit Clause has no application to same sex marriages. Slide 9 2 nd Provision MARRIAGE only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife SPOUSE only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife Definition Slide 10 The law passed both houses of Congress by large majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996 Slide 11 Slide 12 No Success in Stopping DOMA Supporters of Gay/Lesbian Rights Even liberal Democrats who were supporters of gay and lesbian rights voted for DOMA arguing that it would be better to give same-gender couples some form of legal recognition short of traditional marriage. Slide 13 Obama vs. Romney endorsed the repeal of DOMA the first sitting President to support same-sex marriage. Mitt Romney strongly opposes the ability of gay couples to marry Slide 14 Slide 15 Immigration Cases Bi-national same sex couple cannot live together prevents one spouse from sponsoring the other for a green card Slide 16 Slide 17 I told you I was against the Defense -- so-called Defense of Marriage Act long supported efforts to pass a repeal through Congress. And until we reach that day, my administration is no longer defending DOMA in the courts. The law is discriminatory. It violates the Constitution. It's time for us to bring it to an end Slide 18 Section 3 of DOMA codifies the non-recognition of same sex marriage for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, Social security, survivors' benefits, and the filing of joint tax returns. The Obama administration 2011 Section 3 was unconstitutional though it would continue to enforce the law it would no longer defend it in court. In response, the House of Reps. undertook the defense of the law on behalf of the federal government in place of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Slide 19 Slide 20 Slide 21 Slide 22 Slide 23 Slide 24 The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston declared that the Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against married same-sex couples by denying them federal benefits. The court called the law, unconstitutional Slide 25 References http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human- services/same-sex-marriage-overview.aspx http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human- services/same-sex-marriage-overview.aspx http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3396.ENR: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3396.ENR http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hr3396 http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/09/doma-is- becoming-law-in-this-w.html http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/09/doma-is- becoming-law-in-this-w.html http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/doma-ruling- gay-marriage-law-unconstitutional-boston-court-finds- article-1.1087373#ixzz1wnAojrER http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/doma-ruling- gay-marriage-law-unconstitutional-boston-court-finds- article-1.1087373#ixzz1wnAojrER http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3396.ENR: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3396.ENR http://www.domawatch.org/about/federaldoma.html http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/31-2