White House Wants DOMA Repeal

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White House Wants DOMA Repeal

Special Report - August 19, 2009
On Monday, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) revised its position regarding a California district court lawsuit challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which protects states from being forced to recognize the same-sex “marriages” of other states. The majority of states, including North Carolina, have enacted DOMA statutes to the same effect. While the DOJ recognizes its obligation “to defend federal statutes when they are challenged in court,” the most recent brief filed by the DOJ on August 17, which asked for a dismissal of Smelt v. United States, clearly stated that “this [President Obama’s] Administration does not support DOMA as a matter of policy, believes that it is discriminatory, and supports its repeal.” The brief went on to acknowledge that “federal courts have unanimously upheld the constitutionality of DOMA” in a number of cases considered between 2005 and 2009.

“It’s really troubling that the federal government has taken the position that federal DOMA is bad policy,” Alliance Defense Fund attorney Brian Raum told OneNewsNow. “Federal DOMA was passed overwhelmingly by Congress and represents the prevailing view of the people of the United States that a marriage is between a man and a woman, and that's the optimal environment for raising kids. Federal DOMA makes it clear that states have the right to regulate marriage within their borders, and they cannot be forced to recognize same-sex marriages from other states."

According to Matt Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, overturning DOMA would force same-sex “marriage” to “rush over the dam of the various borders of the states, so to speak, like a floodwater rushing over the top of a dam, and flood all the other states.” Because North Carolina does not have a Marriage Protection Amendment, it would be particularly vulnerable to immediate forced recognition of same-sex “marriage,” if the Obama administration is successful in its efforts to overturn DOMA.