Bill Clinton on enacting DOMA

[Windy]

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/scotts/ftp/wpaf2mc/clinton.html

Statement by President Bill Clinton
On Friday, September 20, prior to signing the Defense of Marriage Act, President Clinton released the following statement:

Throughout my life I have strenuously opposed discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans. I am signing into law H.R. 3396, a bill relating to same-gender marriage, but it is important to note what this legislation does and does not do.

I have long opposed governmental recognition of same-gender marriages and this legislation is consistent with that position. The Act confirms the right of each state to determine its own policy with respect to same gender marriage and clarifies for purposes of federal law the operative meaning of the terms "marriage" and "spouse".

This legislation does not reach beyond those two provisions. It has no effect on any current federal, state or local anti-discrimination law and does not constrain the right of Congress or any state or locality to enact anti-discrimination laws. I therefore would take this opportunity to urge Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, an act which would extend employment discrimination protections to gays and lesbians in the workplace. This year the Senate considered this legislation contemporaneously with the Act I sign today and failed to pass it by a single vote. I hope that in its next Session Congress will pass it expeditiously.

I also want to make clear to all that the enactment of this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation. Discrimination, violence and intimidation for that reason, as well as others, violate the principle of equal protection under the law and have no place in American society.

DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE UNDER DOMA

Sec. 7. Definition of `marriage' and `spouse'

`In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word `marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word `spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.'.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3396.ENR:

ANALYSIS OF THIS PASSAGE OF THE ACT

The second substantive section of the bill amends the U.S. Code to make
explicit what has been understood under federal law for over 200 years;
that a marriage is the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and
wife, and a spouse is a husband or wife of the opposite sex. The DOMA
definition of marriage is derived most immediately from a Washington
state case from 1974, Singer v. Hara, which is included in the 1990
edition of Black's Law Dictionary. More than a century ago, the U.S.
Supreme Court spoke of the "union for life of one man and one woman in
the holy estate of matrimony." Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15, 45
(1985).

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/leg23.htm

LASTLY:

“Obama has broken with his top-tier rivals in taking the controversial step of calling for a complete D.O.M.A. repeal… Obama views D.O.M.A. as "an abhorrent law" and he has accused those in Congress who passed D.O.M.A. as only having been interested in "perpetuating division and affirming a wedge issue.” more...

ABC News, Political Radar

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/LGBTBlog/CJWR

[K Gardner]

1. Edwards has called for complete repeal of it as well, but be warned, I got

totally flamed the last time I posted this. Good luck to you. I know you mean well.

[Windy]

2. kick.... so that people read this before posting any more obama gay rights posts with misinformation

n./t