Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley, who filed the lawsuit against the federal government claiming that DOMA is discriminatory against gays and lesbians, announced Thursday she will run in the special election for late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat.

In July 2009, Coakley filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  In the lawsuit, Coakley said that DOMA undermined states’ efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and “codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people.”

“Our familes, our communities, and even our economy have seen the many important benefits that have come from recognizing equal marriage rights and, frankly, no downside,” Coakley said when filing the lawsuit.  “However, we have also seen how many of our married residents and their families are being hurt by a discriminatory, unprecedented, and, we believe, unconstitutional law.”

 The primary election for Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat will be held on December 8, with a general election scheduled for January 19, 2010.