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Obama deserves "unqualified praise" for a "momentous step he didn't have to take" (DOMA)
said Glenn Greenwald in 2011:
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/24/obama_abandons_defense_of_marriage_act
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Glenn, I want to ask you about another major story. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Wednesday that the Justice Department will no longer defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Talk about the significance of this decision.
GLENN GREENWALD: This is one of those rare instances where I think true and kind of unqualified praise is deserved for the White House. This was not something that was expected or even really demanded by gay organizations and leading gay groups. This had been an issue for some time, that the administration was actively defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Even lower courts had said that it was unconstitutional, and yet the Justice Department continued to defend it. And the excuse that was given was that, "Well, as the Justice Department, we’re obligated to defend the constitutionality of statutes, even when we don’t agree with them and even when we think they’re unconstitutional." Well, that excuse has now been thrown by the wayside, as the administration reversed itself and has said that they will no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA, and in fact will argue to courts that they think it’s actually unconstitutional.
The Defense of Marriage Act is a truly pernicious piece of legislation that was passed with overwhelming support of both parties in the mid-1990s under President Clinton. And what it does is there’s a slew of marital rights, 800 legal rights or so, very significant rights like survivor benefits for federal benefits, the right to be exempt from estate tax, mostly — most important, I think, immigration rights for gay citizens who are in a relationship with a foreign national, that are given freely to opposite-sex couples but, as a result of DOMA, denied to same-sex couples. And the fact that the administration is now going to take the position that this law is unconstitutional — and even more significantly, will say that, in general, gay citizens should be treated the same as racial minorities and women and religious and ethnic minorities when it comes to analyzing laws that are aimed at them constitutionally — is a truly momentous step that this White House didn’t have to take and chose to.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Glenn, I want to ask you about another major story. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Wednesday that the Justice Department will no longer defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Talk about the significance of this decision.
GLENN GREENWALD: This is one of those rare instances where I think true and kind of unqualified praise is deserved for the White House. This was not something that was expected or even really demanded by gay organizations and leading gay groups. This had been an issue for some time, that the administration was actively defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Even lower courts had said that it was unconstitutional, and yet the Justice Department continued to defend it. And the excuse that was given was that, "Well, as the Justice Department, we’re obligated to defend the constitutionality of statutes, even when we don’t agree with them and even when we think they’re unconstitutional." Well, that excuse has now been thrown by the wayside, as the administration reversed itself and has said that they will no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA, and in fact will argue to courts that they think it’s actually unconstitutional.
The Defense of Marriage Act is a truly pernicious piece of legislation that was passed with overwhelming support of both parties in the mid-1990s under President Clinton. And what it does is there’s a slew of marital rights, 800 legal rights or so, very significant rights like survivor benefits for federal benefits, the right to be exempt from estate tax, mostly — most important, I think, immigration rights for gay citizens who are in a relationship with a foreign national, that are given freely to opposite-sex couples but, as a result of DOMA, denied to same-sex couples. And the fact that the administration is now going to take the position that this law is unconstitutional — and even more significantly, will say that, in general, gay citizens should be treated the same as racial minorities and women and religious and ethnic minorities when it comes to analyzing laws that are aimed at them constitutionally — is a truly momentous step that this White House didn’t have to take and chose to.
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
but by replying, I just 
this.
