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05/21/2009
DOMA was an issue in primaries -- when will it be a primary issue?
On Monday we showed you how The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld confronted White House Press Secty. Robert Gibbs on the question of a DOMA repeal, leading Gibbs to engage in that all-too-familiar Democratic two-step of underprioritized gay rights support. Now the White House has kinda sorta somewhat responded to Kerry's question in print, acknowledging what is politically convenient while still essentially ignoring that which a constitutional scholar and his administration should see worthy of address:
According to a statement from the White House press office, "DOMA is a federal law passed by Congress that precludes uniform federal recognition of same-sex relationships, even those recognized as valid under the law of the state. Because the President believes that this is an issue that should be left to the states, he continues to support the legislative repeal of DOMA."
The answer more or less summarized a portion of the 1996 law and restated the first part of the original question, which referenced President Obama's support for full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
But the White House statement stopped short of substantively addressing the second part of the question, which sought a remedy and a timeline for honoring same-sex marriages: "Now that same-sex couples can marry legally in five different states, what is the president doing to make sure those marriages can be recognized at the federal level, and what's the timeline for something like that?"
White House Response To DOMA Question [Advocate]
Because apparently 1/10th (and growing) of states is still not enough to make a crucial rights issue a federal priority. 8, 9, 10 states -- then maybe we'll get some urgency? Pretty please?
Your thoughts
Are there any legal challenges to DOMA yet? I know that there are a couple of cases where federal employees have been successful (so far) in challenging DOMA with respect to employee benefits. But have any same-sex couples attempted to file joint tax returns, followed by the inevitable legal battle to get the IRS to acquiesce to a court ordered repeal of DOMA? (Or, who knows, the IRS may be looking the other way on those joint-filings anyway)
Posted by: Dick Mills | May 21, 2009 11:35:36 AM
There's this, Dick: http://www.glad.org/doma
Posted by: G-A-Y | May 21, 2009 11:56:38 AM
I'm beginning to wonder if Andrew Sullivan wasn't/isn't right. I'm hoping that Obama really is just focusing on other things like the economy and still plans to do somthing sbout DOMA (and DADT). But I, too, am beginning to wonder.
And THIS is not a good sign:
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/05/press-secretary-gibbs-lies-about-dadt.html
(Granted, it's about DADT, not DOMA, but troubling nonetheless.)
Meanwhile, I did print-out and mail-in my flip-flop letter, and you can, too:
http://domaflipflop.com
(Be sure to click the link on the homepage for "Print out your very own FLIP FLOP CARD" to get a full-size flip-flop page to print-out.)
Posted by: JWSwift | May 21, 2009 12:10:34 PM
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