By GottaLaff
At a busy legislative moment, foes of the Defense of Marriage Act are re-starting the campaign against it. Rep. Jerry Nadler is, I'm told, expected to introduce a bill that would repeal the legislation next week, and today Human Rights Campaign is delivering a survey of 50,000 gay and lesbian members and supporters to Congress, intended to convey the concrete harm the bill does them.
By GottaLaff
President Barack Obama on Monday declared that the Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against gays and lesbians, even as his administration moved in federal court to defend the law.In a court filing in Los Angeles, Justice Department lawyers urged a federal judge to throw out a case brought by a gay couple married in California.
"The Department of Justice has filed a response to a legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged," the president said in a written statement. "This brief makes clear, however, that my administration believes that the act is discriminatory and should be repealed by Congress."
Well, then, that's a good thing, right? The gay rights community must be thrilled!
That did not satisfy leaders of the gay rights community.
"It is not enough to disavow this discriminatory law, and then wait for Congress or the courts to act," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "While they contend that is the (Department of Justice's) duty to defend an act of Congress, we contend that it is the administration's duty to defend every citizen from discrimination."
In his presidential campaign, Obama had strong backing from the gay community because of his promise to press for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Oh.
The Justice Department Monday stressed the administration has not changed its views on the law.
More here.
By GottaLaff
This is an issue that's near and dear to me:
That's a good move, but I hope he does more than listen and try to "smooth things over", because, as things stand now, it's pretty rough out there.AmericaBlog’s John Aravosis has argued that the Obama administration’s legal brief filed in the DOMA case is “despicable, and gratuitously homophobic.” Human Right Campaign’s Joe Solmonese penned a letter to Obama, stating that, “reading the brief, one is told again and again that same-sex couples are so unlike different-sex couples that unequal treatment makes sense.”
After initially criticizing the administration, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) sounded a more positive note. “I believe that the administration made a conscientious and largely successful effort to avoid inappropriate rhetoric,” he said.
[...] Greg Sargent reports that the "Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next week with the groups, in an apparent effort to smooth over tensions in the wake of the controversy over the administration’s defense in court of the Defense of Marriage Act."
Not to be unexpected. There will be more boycotts before this is over.
Two prominent gay figures, activist David Mixner and widely read blogger Andy Towle, have pulled out of a Democratic National Committee fundraiser later this month amid growing calls to confront the administration at what was supposed to be its first large scale opportunity to bring in gay cash.
"I will not attend a fundraiser for the National Democratic Party in Washington next week when the current administration is responsible for these kind of actions," Mixner wrote of a motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act that drew a parallel between same-sex marriage to incestuous marriage. "How will they ever take us seriously if we keep forking out money while they harm us. For now on, my money is going to battles within the community such as the fight in Maine or the March on Washington! I am so tired of being told by Democratic operatives to 'suck it up' because so many other profound issues are at stake," Mixner wrote.
(snip)
Prominent gay and lesbian bloggers are also pushing guests at the $1,000-a-plate dinner to turn up the heat on its hosts, out Reps. Barney Frank, Jared Polis, and Tammy Baldwin.
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