Until DOMA was enacted in 1996, federal law deferred to states in determining who could marry and be considered married, and the principle of comity and constitutional guarantee of full faith and credit governed states' obligations to honor marriages validly celebrated elsewhere. DOMA was an unprecedented departure from these long-established rules. Not only does DOMA purport to allow states to refuse to recognize valid civil marriages of same-sex couples (§ 2), it carves all same-sex couples, even those who have taken on the serious legal responsibilities of civil marriage and are recognized as married under state law, out of all federal statutes, regulations, and rulings applicable to all other married people (§ 3).
As a result, legally married same-sex spouses cannot:
· File their taxes jointly
· Receive spousal, mother's and father's, or surviving spouse benefits under Social Security even though they pay into Social Security throughout their careers
· Take unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured spouse
· Receive employer-provided family health benefits without paying an additional tax that different-sex spouses do not pay
· Receive the same family health and retirement/pension benefits as fellow married employees
·Be protected by the safe harbor provisions in bankruptcy law, Medicaid rules and other federal statutes that secure some resources and the family home when debts of one spouse threaten to leave both financially responsible spouses destitute.
Supporters of DOMA argued that it was necessary to promote family structures that are best for children, but since then, every credible medical, social science and child welfare organization has concluded that same-sex couples are equal parents. In fact, the federal government recently stated, in a federal court brief, that "the United States does not believe that DOMA is rationally related to any legitimate government interests in procreation and child-rearing and is therefore not relying upon any such interests to defend DOMA's constitutionality."
When DOMA was enacted, its harms were not yet fully appreciated because same-sex couples were not able to marry in any U.S. state. Since then, eight states and the District of Columbia have recognized equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, and thousands of couples have married. Because of DOMA, the federal government does not honor their legal commitment and the needs of their families, even though these couples have assumed the obligations of civil marriage under state law and contribute as citizens and taxpayers. DOMA undermines the very purposes of programs like Social Security and the Family and Medical Leave Act by making it more difficult for families to provide mutual support.
The Respect for Marriage Act repeals DOMA in its entirety, and ensures that valid marriages are respected under federal law, providing couples certainty that regardless of where they travel or move, they will not become strangers under federal law if a state refuses to recognize them as married for purposes of that state's law.
The Respect for Marriage Act does not obligate any person, religious organization, locality, or state to celebrate or license a marriage between two persons of the same sex. The First Amendment protects the right of churches and religious bodies to determine the qualifications for religious marriage, and the Respect for Marriage Act cannot and will not upset that centuries-old protection.
The time to repeal DOMA is long overdue. Please support the Respect for Marriage Act and help end discrimination against families.
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