Gay marriage: Judge overturns DOMA, stepping up pressure on Supreme Court

A US judge has struck down a 1996 federal law barring gays and lesbians from receiving federal benefits, the latest in a series of court decisions pushing the issue of same-sex marriage closer to a Supreme Court reckoning.

The ruling by Claudia Wilken of the US District Court for Northern California is the third by district level judges that have declared the 1996 law known as the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, to be unconstitutional.

Along with a parallel challenge to a California law banning same-sex marriage, the decisions mean the US high court could be hearing arguments about the emotionally charged and politically fraught issue of marriage for gays and lesbians within the next two years.

“It wasn’t a revolutionary decision by any stretch,” says Brian Moulton, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based gay-rights organization, “but the fact we have yet another judge ruling on DOMA, it’s a constant drum beat at this point, and we’ll see what Supreme Court has to say about it. Sooner rather than later.”

President Obama’s historic announcement that he supports same-sex marriage, and Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s opposition to it, have already stoked the election-year fires on the issue. Earlier this month, voters made North Carolina the 30th state to pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage. Hawaii’s legislature has also barred same-sex marriage, though there is no amendment there. 

DOMA, which was signed into law by President Clinton, defines marriage as a legal union between a man and woman and prevents gays and lesbians who are married under state law from qualifying for more than 1,000 federal benefits, such as Social Security survivor payments or filing joint tax returns.

In her decision Thursday, Judge Wilken agreed with arguments that the law unfairly barred gay and lesbian couples from claiming long-term care benefits in California, violating their rights to equal protection. She cited some of the deliberations Congress had in the run-up to passing DOMA, saying there congressional record showed “evidence of moral condemnation and social disapprobation of same-sex couples.

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