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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com March 05, 2011
Boehner's DOMA Defense Denounced
DOMA opponents including (pictured, from left) Jared Polis, Tammy Baldwin,
and Barney Frank have spoken out against House speaker John Boehner's plan
to defend the antigay law.
By Advocate.com Editors
Lead sponsors of a measure to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, including
all of the openly gay members of Congress, have spoken out against House
speaker John Boehner’s plan to defend DOMA in court, even though President
Obama and the Justice Department have ceased doing so.
“The President correctly concluded last week that the Department of Justice
(DOJ) should not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court — nor should
the House of Representatives,” said a joint statement issued Friday by
House members Tammy Baldwin, David Cicilline, John Conyers, Barney Frank,
Jerrold Nadler, and Jared Polis. “In the 15 years since the passage of DOMA
, the harmful stereotypes used to justify this law have been shattered.
There simply is no legitimate reason for denying committed gay and lesbian
couples the legal security, rights and responsibilities that marriage
provides.”
Boehner announced Friday that he planned to convene a meeting of the
Bipartisan House Legal Advisory Group to initiate a defense of DOMA, the 15-
year-old law that prevents federal recognition of same-sex marriages and
allows states not to recognize such unions performed in other states. A
court has found the federal section of the law unconstitutional, and while
the decision is on appeal, Obama and the Justice Department are declining to
take part in the law’s defense. The law remains in effect until it is
struck down in court or repealed by Congress.
Baldwin, Cicilline, Frank, and Polis — the four openly gay members of
Congress — and straight allies Conyers and Nadler also said they plan soon
to reintroduce legislation to repeal DOMA. “The President has long urged
Congress to overturn this discriminatory law and we intend to do so,” their
statement said. “We look forward to working with Members and advocates
from across the country and the political spectrum to rid our nation of this
historical stain.” |
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