Democrats In Both House And Senate Initiate Marriage Equality Measures Designed To Repeal Defense Of Marriage Act

The Wall Street Journal reports that Wednesday Democrats initiated a campaign to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, introducing bills in both the House and Senate that would allow same sex couples receive federal benefits. The push to repeal DOMA arrives after the Obama administration’s announcement in February that the Justice Department would no longer defend the law in court. The marriage equality measures, both entitled the Respect for Marriage Act, are spearheaded in the Senate by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont and in the House by four openly gay lawmakers: Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jared Polis of Colorado, and David Cicilline of Rhode Island. Gillibrand told Washington Wire on Wednesday that the 1996 law defining marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman is an obstacle to marriage equality. “All loving couples should be able to enjoy the benefits of marriage,” MGillibrand said. “It’s a question of equality and justice.” With a Republican-controlled House and strong opposition to gay marriage from social conservatives and African-American churches, prospects for passage of the legislation are poor. At an earlier press conference on Capitol Hill, 81-year-old gay right advocate Edith Windsor spoke out against the law. Windsor’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act was cited by Attorney General Eric Holder when he announced in February that the Justice Department would no longer defend a portion of the law in court, leaving that task up to Congress. House Speaker John Boehner (Republican-Ohio) has said the House will intervene in the litigation. Windsor highlighted the federal benefits denied to same sex couples, saying that “My late spouse, Thea Spyer, and I lived together and loved each other for more than four decades. Because of DOMA, I was forced to pay $363,000 in federal estate tax that I would not have had to pay had I been married to a man.”