Obama deems Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional
Ben Garcia
Recently President Obama instructed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). He feels the DOMA violates the equal protection part of the Fifth Amendment.DOMA was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1996. It defined marriage as a “legal union between one man and one woman.”
Basically, the law was passed to prevent gays and lesbians from legally getting married as well as denying them any kind of federal benefits that a one-man-and-one-woman couple would receive.
Some states, where marriage doesn’t need any defense, as the DOMA title suggests, have passed laws allowing same-sex marriages.
It’s possible for same-sex couples to move to one of those states to get married, but when tax time comes, the IRS will not recognize them as being married.
So why the fuss about President Obama informing the DOJ to no longer defend DOMA in two current court cases?
Many times before, people from the Republican party opposed President Obama and any decision he made just because the president is on a different side.
But this time, those who oppose the president on the DOMA issue have come up with several reasons for their counter-productive arguments.
One argument that almost holds water is why would Obama, who is two years into his presidency, stop enforcing a law that Clinton, a fellow democrat, enacted?
The laws in the United States are not set in stone. Throughout the history of the United States, forward and progressive thinking has changed the way people look at issues in society.
As the saying goes ? rules, or laws in this case ? are meant to be bent, broken or changed.
On top of everything else the Obama administration has to deal with, after two years its progressive and forward thinking has led them to decide to no longer defend what they feel is an unconstitutional law.
