American Bar Association Supports Repeal of DOMA

The American Bar Association (ABA) has now officially gone on record in support of the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Thomas Susman, the director of  the ABA’s Governmental Affairs Office, sent a letter to the senate judiciary committee in which he voiced the ABA's support for repealing the law on the grounds that it is "discriminatory" and causes "legal confusion and complications."

Special thanks to OUTlaw President Erika Scibelli for finding the article.

Progress on Repeal of the "Defense of Marriage Act"

Sen. Patrick Leahy

In July, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) chaired a hearing on a possible repeal of the "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA). Under the act, passed in 1996, a marriage was legally defined as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife", and no State may be required to recognize as a marriage any same-sex relationship recognized as a marriage in another State. Furthermore, federal marriage benefits which are granted to heterosexual married couples may not be granted to their same-sex counterparts. On October 14th, 2011, Sen. Leahy issued a press release stating that he intends to schedule Committee consideration of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal and replace DOMA. The text of the bill is as follows:

‘(a) For the purposes of any Federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual’s marriage is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any State, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a State.

‘(b) In this section, the term ‘State’ means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States.’