Cleveland Pride

On May 13, 2010, 19 lesbian and gay plaintiffs take their fight to federal court in Boston to confront DOMA.
In 2004, when Kathy Bush and Mary Ritchie got married, they thought that they would finally be seen as a ‘married’ couple and with that, receive what ‘legally seen married’ couples receive, they were wrong.  Among other lesbian and gay couples that were married in Massachusetts six years ago when same-sex marriage became legal in that state, they are now still fighting for their rights to be acknowledged as legally married in the eyes of the federal government.  The Federal Defense of Marriage Act is now halting their ability to have this dream come true.  Bush and Ritchie, along with 17 other lesbian and gay plaintiffs, will be appearing in federal court on May 13, 2010 in Boston, to fight for their right to equal rights.  Gary Buseck, with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders is their attorney.  Buseck states, “DOMA violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution because it is discriminatory”.
Now in 1996, Congress had a debate over DOMA, Smith writes, “One of DOMA’s authors, former Republican Rep. Bob Barr, proclaimed, “The flames of hedonism and the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundations of our society.” Barr, now a libertarian, has since called for DOMA’s repeal, saying it violates states rights. President Obama also supports repeal. But his administration is in the awkward position of having to defend the law in court. As a Department of Justice official put it, we “can’t pick and choose which federal laws [to] defend based on any one administration’s policy preferences.””
It’s plain to see that this is not going to be an easy fight for the LGBT Community and those who believe in EQUAL RIGHTS, but one that is necessary none-the-less.
For more information, read the full article here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 8th, 2010 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.