In this federal case, the Department of Justice, lead by Eric Holder, has to decide whether or not to defend this law. It would be HUGELY prescedent setting if they decided to argue on our side, but given Obama’s campaign promises, they do not have a choice.

I urge everyone that supported the campaign to contact Holder and Obama immediately to tell them there is only one way to go on this: stick to your promises, do not defend DOMA, do not give the defense any federal assistance. Who is going to argue for DOMA in court if they do that? Nobody. It is the DOJ’s role and they should step aside.

It does apply, it just isn’t enforced. Apparently they can cherry pick which Constitutional rights when it suits their purpose. The Bush admin has a legacy of trampeling the Constitution in the name of freedom and democracy. The religous nutjobs have a history of trampeling in the name of religion. We should remember the Constitution is merely a lot of pretty words unless they are actively enforced.

“My partner was an acting U.S. Postmaster in Kansas City Kansas; now he is on disability retirement after open heart surgery. I also have a severe medical condition. We have been together for thirty-four years and got legally married (in Canada) five years ago . We live in the Midwest, but we should also be entitled to federal benefits since my spouse worked for the US Postal Service for nearly thirty years. As it is now, we have to shell-out an additional $7,000 a year in medical insurance because we are unconstitutionally denied (as legal spouses) joint health care coverage which other married federal employees receive for their families.”

Bud, like I said above, marriages performed legally should ALL be recognized by the Government. You should be filing suit yourself if you haven’t already, and demand that your lawyer point out to the courts that you are being denied the right to liberty and the right to the pursuit of happiness.

It isn’t just Massachusetts, Connecticut, California and Iowa (why do gay people keep forgetting our own legal precedents?) legal marriages that should be Federally recognized; it’s also the legal marriages performed in other countries. Not a single heterosexual couple who have been legally married overseas (with the exception of polygamous marriages performed in those countries that allow it*, **) have not had their marriage acknowledged by the Government.

* Does anyone here know what the status would be of, say, a Muslim immigrant with 5 or 6 legal wives performed in his home country? What happens to the legal status of the ones who came after the first one?

** Of course, a man with more than one wife is no longer a “couple”.