Ready for some good news about the freedom to marry? Well, for starters, there’s the latest ruling that DOMA violates the U.S. Constitution. It’s the fifth time that’s happened in just the last year!
At this rate, we’ll have DOMA off the books before you know it.
Plus: good news from Maryland, where polling has been tilting further in our favor (but is still very very close). And there’s also progress in national polls, with more Democrats and Republicans than ever supporting us. We’ll let you guess which party is more supportive.
stoopid louie
I may be stoopid but . . . gay marriage isn’t in the Constitution, either.
freddie
@stoopid louie: No, but the Equal Protection Clause is.
Karl Schneider
@stoopid louie:
Neither is any other kind of marriage, Sparky.
Rajulio
@stoopid louie: you’re right, you are. The bigots today are atleast RECOGNIZING their stupidity. That’s a good sign.
I will ask. What is the future of DOMA if Romney wins, and sadly, he very well could?
Thank you for anyone who can answer
John McLaren
Pardon my ignorance, but if DOMA is struck down does that only apply to federal laws affecting couples married in states where same-sex marriage is legal? Will this change anything in the 32 or so states that already have state constitutional amendments prohibiting gay marriage? Who gets married will still be determined to each state?
Soakman
@John McLaren:
Yup. It will only apply in states where same-sex marriage is already legal as removing DOMA is not the same as making same-sex marriage available in all of the states.
But, if it IS removed, there’s a much better chance of other states finding these “bans” unconstitutional as well as there will have been precedent set.
At least this is my understanding.
hassia
a short marriage equality video. http://youtu.be/CTayljq4jw0
Charles
Laws are supposed to effect all people as a whole based on equally for all. Because the main thrust of DOMA is based in division of and singling out a group of a lesser than people, the courts have correctly ruled. If on the other hand people (out of personal revulsions about gays) say that the courts were wrong, in essence this would create a slippery slope for other laws of inequality to be created and enforced. A form of “backfire” if you will, would eventually happen to those that started this emotionally driven slippery slope in the first place. These same laws of equality also apply to the lawful fact that Chick-fil-A as a tax paying business entity, has a constitutional right to freedom of speech AND to spend as much money as they want on anti-gay organizations. Do I agree with Chick-Fil-A? NO not at all. But I must remain logical and put aside my personal feelings against those that are hateful and bigoted against gays. This especially knowing that the societal checks and balances MUST remain. These safeguards are essential to a truly free society. Essential for that society to REMAIN free.
Charles
When I said “A lesser than people” for clarity I mean as the unconstitutional law of DOMA sees gays.
Kamuurie
@John McLaren: If DOMA is repealed, if you get married in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, other states can be forced to recognize them. Article IV, Section 1 of the constitution says that states have to respect the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.” One of the many reasons DOMA has repeatedly been found unconstitutional. It basically reads “no state has to recognize another state’s gay marriages.”
Charles
Historically when different States have had laws that directly contradict one another, diametrically opposing one another, these the US Supreme Court pretty much would eventually decided which stays and which goes. The differences between the States that have marriage equality versus the States that have outright constitutional bans should be conflicting enough for the Supreme Court to eventually step in.
samwise
@stoopid louie: But equality IS in the Constitution. It’s in the 14th amendment.
Daez
@Charles: You forgot that part of those “checks and balances” is our right to protest and boycott a corporation and to recruit our friends and family and acquaintances to do the same.