WASHINGTON—A coalition of 90 Democratic congressmen has introduced a new House bill that would reverse the federal government’s position on same-sex marriages. Called the Respect for Marriage Act, the proposed law would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denies Social Security, estate, tax, spousal immigration and other federal privileges to any marriage that is not a traditional heterosexual union.
According to Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who is leading the effort, when President Bill Clinton signed DOMA 13 years ago, same-sex marriage was hypothetical. During the intervening years, however, the issue has become a hot-button topic nationwide—especially in California, where 18,000 same-sex couples married in the roughly seven months before Proposition 8’s passage overrode a state Supreme Court decision granting homosexuals the right to marry. Those couples, though allowed to remain legally married post-Prop 8, nevertheless are denied more than 1,000 federal benefits by DOMA, according to advocates.
“Discrimination against committed couples and stable families is terrible federal policy,” Nadler told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Even Clinton is in favor of repealing the law.
“The fabric of our country has changed, and so should this policy,” he said last week.
President Barack Obama has said he will sign the law.
One thing the Respect for Marriage Act would not do is impose same-sex marriage on any state. Instead, according to Nadler, the law simply would take away federal authority over marriage and return it to the states, where it should have been all along. Although a majority of states have voted not to recognize same-sex marriages within their boundaries, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont now allow homosexual unions. New Hampshire will begin marrying same-sex couples in January. Maine voters will decide in November how their state will handle the issue.
