Free at last?!
President Obama yesterday took a decisive step toward ending anti-gay discrimination in the US. The Justice Department announced it would no longer defend a legal perversity, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.*
That Republican-imposed abomination was passed by the Congress in the late 90's (and, sadly, signed into law by Bill Clinton -- in his desperate struggle with Newt Gingrich's campaign of intolerance).
The new move doesn't yet rid us of the effects of that wretched law, which is manifestly unconstitutional -- thought the Roberts/Scalia/Thomas Supreme Court may not accept that conspicuous fact.
At least, though, we'll no longer have US Government attorneys inanely supporting blatant discrimination against gay and lesbian couples.
I predict our friend Izuko is not happy...
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* The NYTimes explained the legal context: "...it would have been far more difficult -- both legally and politically -- for the administration to keep arguing that the marriage law is constitutional in these new lawsuits [to be argued in court March 11]. To assert that gay people do not qualify for extra legal protection against official discrimination, legal specialists say, the Justice Department would most likely have had to conclude that they have not been historically stigmatized and can change their orientation."
That Republican-imposed abomination was passed by the Congress in the late 90's (and, sadly, signed into law by Bill Clinton -- in his desperate struggle with Newt Gingrich's campaign of intolerance).
The new move doesn't yet rid us of the effects of that wretched law, which is manifestly unconstitutional -- thought the Roberts/Scalia/Thomas Supreme Court may not accept that conspicuous fact.
At least, though, we'll no longer have US Government attorneys inanely supporting blatant discrimination against gay and lesbian couples.
I predict our friend Izuko is not happy...
______________________
* The NYTimes explained the legal context: "...it would have been far more difficult -- both legally and politically -- for the administration to keep arguing that the marriage law is constitutional in these new lawsuits [to be argued in court March 11]. To assert that gay people do not qualify for extra legal protection against official discrimination, legal specialists say, the Justice Department would most likely have had to conclude that they have not been historically stigmatized and can change their orientation."