Tag Archives: Respect for Marriage Act

A rapidly growing number of Americans now live in states that grant the basic rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex couples. But DOMA prevents the federal government from recognizing any of these relationships!
Tell Congress: It’s time to Dump DOMA.

Within the last few weeks, the governors of Washington and Maryland signed into law bills giving legal recognition to same-sex marriages, and a federal district court judge ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protections clause.

If ever we had the momentum on our side to once and for all repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act it’s now.

Tell Congress it’s time to Dump DOMA now.

As more and more Americans live in states where marriage equality is the law, it’s important to underscore the sharp reality that as long as those same-sex married couples are being denied federal recognition, they are still shut out from hundreds of rights and benefits that other married couples enjoy.

PFAW launched our Dump DOMA campaign in December of 2008, and since then, it’s been joined by nearly 165,000 people and there are bills in both the House and the Senate to repeal the law that prevents even those same-sex couples in states with marriage equality from truly enjoying the rights, responsibilities and recognition that they and their relationships deserve.

Please make sure you are on board at DumpDOMA.org.

The Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, thanks to the energetic support of Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and others. Representative Jerrold Nadler‘s (D-NY) companion bill has bipartisan support in the House and the Obama administration supports repealing the law.

We need to keep the pressure on Congress now more than ever.

Please add your name to the petition now and then help spread the word.

Thank you for your committed activism on behalf of fairness and equality — the American Way.

Sincerely, Michael Keegan, President

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DADT … Jim Messina, BarackObama.com

07/25/2011 Nativegrl77

President Obama and our military service chiefs certified the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

In 60 days, it will be done.

This is huge and welcome news for every one of us who opposes discrimination of any kind. But now, the fight for equal rights moves on.

Here’s the next front: This week the President endorsed a bill to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, a discriminatory law that forces the federal government to ignore the rights of those in same-sex marriages, even those performed in states where gay marriage is legal. The New York Times has said it “ranks with the most overtly discriminatory laws in the nation’s history.”

President Obama sees repeal as a moral and legal necessity, while the Republican candidates oppose it. But millions of people — gay and straight — are watching what they’re doing, want this law gone, and will make their voices heard.

Can you be one of them? We’re putting together the group of people who want to be at the forefront of our efforts on this issue as the campaign develops over the next 16 months — the first to know when news breaks, and the first to help spread the word to your friends and in your community. Join us for what’s next:

BARACKOBAMA.COM

Under DOMA, rights afforded to straight married couples — such as receiving Social Security benefits for spouses or filing joint federal income-tax returns — do not apply to same-sex married couples.

It’s no secret that the President has long opposed this law. In February, he directed the Justice Department to stop defending a key portion of it in court. And this week, he endorsed the first Senate bill that would repeal the law in its entirety.

We can already see the direction the other side is headed in response. They called a witness at the Senate hearings this week to testify that repealing DOMA would “pave the way for polygamous and other polyamorous unions.” That’s the type of rhetoric we should be prepared to hear in the run-up to the next election.

But the broad American consensus is on our side. We’ve all seen that change in Washington doesn’t come overnight, and fighting for it can carry significant political risks. When opportunities to make real progress come up, it’s critical to show Washington that millions of voters have President Obama’s back.

This is a defining issue for many of us in this movement, and for this President. Join this fight today:

Thanks for your help,

Messina

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

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Law firm drops DOMA defense! but we’re not done yet! this from a Public Servant-who should Serve & Protect everyone-what about your oath?

05/02/2011 Nativegrl77

The media is buzzing. King & Spalding, the law firm hired by House Republican leaders to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), decided to drop the case.

Last week, we ran a public campaign calling out K&S’s hypocrisy: the firm touted its efforts to recruit and retain lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lawyers, while choosing to argue against their equality in court.

As I wrote in today’s Washington Post, we just couldn’t stay silent while K&S advertised a high rating on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, even as it sought to defend discrimination.

K&S made the right call in the end – and we thank them. But House Speaker John Boehner is still planning to spend more than half a million of our tax dollars on defending DOMA in court.

We need to build on the momentum of K&S’s decision – and make it clear to Speaker Boehner that he’s out of touch with the American people.

Add your name to our petition to Boehner: “Don’t waste my tax dollars defending discrimination. Repeal DOMA!”

Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly want Congress to focus on jobs and the economy, not hurting loving couples.1 Yet Speaker Boehner and House Republicans decided to hire an outside law firm (at great taxpayer expense) after President Obama announced that his Justice Department would no longer defend DOMA.

That’s where you came in. As the LA Times pointed out, “The decision came a week after the million-member Human Rights Campaign launched a publicity war to ‘shame’ King & Spalding…”

You reached out to K&S, and you spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. You enabled HRC to immediately spring into action, informing the firm’s clients as well as student groups at law schools where K&S competes to hire the top graduates.

Your voices joined with those clients and students to help K&S understand it had a stark choice: maintain a pro-equality reputation that attracts clients and new recruits, or stand on the wrong side of history. The firm made the right call. And it showed we’re at a tipping point in our culture. Most Americans now find anti-LGBT discrimination shameful.

Yet despite this setback, it’s clear that Boehner still plans to spend hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to uphold this odious law.

We can’t back down. If tens of thousands of us speak up right now, we can show Speaker Boehner that attacking same-sex couples has left him out of step with the American people.

Click here to add your name now.

While Americans struggle to recover from a recession, we just want our government to do right by us. Instead of wasting time and money defending discrimination, Speaker Boehner should support the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation that would repeal DOMA and end our federal government’s policy of treating married gay and lesbian couples like second-class citizens.

Thank you for everything you do – and for joining us in this effort.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese

President

1A recent poll from HRC and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research shows 51 percent of Americans oppose DOMA while 34 percent favor it. 54 percent of Americans want Congress to focus on jobs and only 32 percent would prefer Congress spend time defending DOMA.

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Congress’s new low …a message from Joe Solmonese

03/18/2011 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Can they sink any lower?

Speaker John Boehner and Republican House leaders have now committed taxpayer money to a morally bankrupt effort to keep the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the books.

Republican House leaders are defending DOMA in court and right-wing lawmakers have introduced an anti-LGBT resolution in the House.

But for the first time ever, we have bills in both houses of Congress to repeal DOMA.

And more than 90 U.S. representatives are wasting time on a mean-spirited resolution to reinforce DOMA by declaring same-sex couples unequal.

But here’s the catch. Our new poll shows they’re squarely at odds with a majority of Americans who think DOMA is just plain wrong.1

And starting this week, we have a new chance to fight back – now with hard data on our side.

The Respect for Marriage Act – a bill that would repeal DOMA – has just been introduced in both houses of Congress. But it won’t go anywhere unless thousands of people like you turn up the pressure on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, starting immediately. Can you take one minute to send a letter now?

www.hrc.org

Make your voice heard. Tell Congress now is the time to toss DOMA for good.

The right-wing faction in Congress is so deeply committed to dialing back rights for LGBT Americans that nearly 100 of them are cosponsoring a resolution condemning President Obama for his brave decision last month to no longer defend DOMA in court.

As Americans struggle to recover from the recession, we just want our government to do right by us. But Republican House leaders are doing the exact opposite – committing taxpayer money and precious time to defend a law that most Americans oppose, and a social agenda that most Americans reject.

They want to continue denying loving couples the benefits of marriage. It’s outrageous – and the public doesn’t have the patience for it.

Thanks to the leadership of Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Jerry Nadler, we have a way of circumventing the defense of this law by Boehner and his cronies. Together, we can end DOMA, which denies legally married same-sex couples over 1,100 protections and responsibilities – and we can do it in the exact place it was first passed in 1996.

Join us in taking a stand for LGBT families everywhere. To make the Respect for Marriage Act a reality, your representatives in Congress need to hear from you.

Tell Congress: Repeal DOMA now!

Speaker Boehner doesn’t know what he’s up against as he goes all out to defend this discriminatory law. Our fight may have only just begun, but I know we’re fighting on the right side of history.

Thank you for everything you do – and for joining us in this effort.

To repeal,

Joe Solmonese

President

1 A new poll from HRC and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research shows 51 percent of Americans oppose DOMA while 34 percent favor it. 54 percent of Americans want Congress to focus on jobs and only 32 percent would prefer Congress spend time defending DOMA.