Tag Archives: DOMA

ObamasPlanForGayRights.com

Check out the Obama’s Plan For Gay Rights site.

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Flashback: David Mixner And Bill Clinton On DADT & DOMA

(Via – JMG reader Noah)

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NYT Slams DOJ-DOMA Brief

The New York Times has published an editorial slamming the DOJ-DOMA brief. If the administration does feel compelled to defend the act, it should do so in a less hurtful way. It could have crafted its legal arguments in general terms, as a simple description of where it believes the law now stands. There was no need to resort to …

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Maddow On DOJ-DOMA Flap

Rachel Maddow hosted Howard Dean to rip into the DOJ-DOMA flap. Dean: “I think this was a big mistake.” Dean doubts “very much the president knew this was coming.”

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Solmonese Writes To Obama

Human Rights Campaign head Joe Solmonese has written a lengthy letter to the president decrying last week’s DOJ brief opposing the repeal of DOMA. It reads, in part: As a matter of constitutional law, some of this brief does not even make sense: DOMA does not discriminate against homosexuals in the provision of federal benefits…. Section 3 of DOMA does …

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Obama’s Promises: A Flashback

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Cleve Jones: We Have The Permit, The March On Washington Is Definitely On

Speaking with me by phone this afternoon, activist Cleve Jones confirmed that despite earlier reports that the National Mall was previously booked and unavailable, he does have a permit from the Parks Department for a Columbus Day weekend March On Washington. “We put in a request for the West Lawn of the Capitol, where the Obama inauguration took place, and …

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Coalition Of LGBT Groups Join To Condemn DOJ Motion To Dismiss DOMA Challenge

A coalition of LGBT groups have issued a joint statement condemning the Obama administration’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense Of Marriage Act. Via press release: We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in …

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Update On DOJ-DOMA Case

Over on Americablog, John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay are parsing the entire DOJ challenge to DOMA that was filed this morning. It just gets worse and worse. Go read their analysis. The Task Force weighs in: “DOMA is and has always been an immoral attack on same-sex couples, our families and our fundamental humanity. This law has only served to …

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DOJ Moves To Dismiss DOMA Challenge

The Department of Justice has filed a motion requesting the dismissal of a DOMA-related federal marriage equality case which calls for states to recognize the legality of same-sex marriages from other states. (Important: this is unrelated to the coming federal case from Ted Olson and David Boies.) The motion, filed late Thursday, argued the case of Arthur Smelt and Christopher …

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Clinton Rules: State Dept To Grant Equal Benefits To Gay Diplomats

Secretary of State Clinton has ruled that the State Department will grant equal benefits to gay diplomats. In a notice to be sent soon to State Department employees, Clinton says regulations that denied same-sex couples and their families the same rights and privileges that straight diplomats enjoyed are “unfair and must end,” as they harm U.S. diplomacy. “Providing training, medical …

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30+ House Reps Introduce DC DOMA

Two Democrats and about 30 Republican House members have co-sponsored a Defense Of Marriage Act for Washington DC in response to the DC City Council’s recent vote to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. A Republican-led group of lawmakers wants to define marriage in the District of Columbia as between a man and a woman. The group introduced a bill …

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President Obama: Don’t Flip Flop On DOMA

Via press release: The first ever federal lawsuit against Section 3 of DOMA (“Defense Of Marriage Act”) was filed on March 3, 2009 by GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) on behalf of eight same-sex married couples and three surviving spouses from Massachusetts who have been denied federal legal protections available to spouses. They served the government with the …

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White House Punts On DOMA Question

Is Robert Gibbs the most hapless press secretary ever?

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White House Restores LGBT Rights Promises On Website (But Changes DADT Wording From “Repeal” To “Change”)

UPDATE: There’s been another change and it’s for the better. Yesterday JMG reader Sean Chapin alerted me to the shrunken list of commitments to LGBT rights on the White House’s official site. What was once an eight-point list of detailed promises including the repeal of DADT, the repeal of DOMA, and other major commitments shrank to these two sentences: President …

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Sen. Chuck Schumer Comes Out For Marriage Equality And Repeal Of DOMA

At an Empire State Pride Agenda dinner in NYC last night, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer reversed his previous stance, publicly endorsing marriage equality and called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. From our reliable ally Elizabeth Benjamin at the New York Daily News: Schumer: “It’s time. Equality is something that has always been a hallmark of …

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Barney Frank Calls SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia A Homophobe

The wingnuts are already losing their shit.

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GLAD Challenges DOMA In Federal Court

The Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) have filed a federal challenge to Section 3 of the Defense Of Marriage Act in a Boston court. GLAD filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Boston on behalf of eight married couples and three surviving spouses from Massachusetts who have been denied federal legal protections available to spouses. Two of …

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9th Circuit Court Rules Against DOMA

This is MAJOR, people. Via Jen Nedeau at Change.org: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just ordered Federal Health Insurance Benefits for same sex married couples. The case involves Deputy Federal Public Defender Brad Levenson, who married Tony Sears last July 12, and 9th Circuit staff lawyer Karen Golinski, who married Amy Cunninghis last year. The LA Observer reported today …

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DOMA Author Says End DOMA

Former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr, the architect of the Defense of Marriage Act, has written an editorial in the Los Angeles Times calling for its repeal. I’ve wrestled with this issue for the last several years and come to the conclusion that DOMA is not working out as planned. In testifying before Congress against a federal marriage amendment, and more …

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