DOJ Defending DOMA in Legal Briefing
Politico reports:
President Obama seemed to have mended his difficult relationship with his the gay rights movement by getting the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" done, but this evening brings another flare-up.
Gay groups are furious with a Justice Department brief defending -- though in quite narrow terms -- the Defense of Marriage Act, which Candidate Obama, unlike even his Democratic rivals, had pledged to repeal in full.
"DOMA is supported by rationales that constitute a sufficient rational basis for the law. For example, as explained below, it is supported by an interest in maintaining the status quo and uniformity on the federal level, and preserving room for the development of policy in the states," says the government's brief (.pdf) in two cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The brief focuses solely on the virtues of keeping the federal law while state's experiment, and not the underlying question of marriage.
The half-heartedness of that defense didn't offer much solace to activists who -- despite the Justice Department's traditional role defending federal laws -- are demanding that Obama return to the full support for same-sex marriage that he advocated in the 1990s.
"There are some improvements in tone in the brief, but the bottom line is the government continues to oppose full equality for its gay citizens," said Equality Matters chief Richard Socarides in an email. "And that is unacceptable."
