Will They? Won’t They?
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On Friday, the Supreme Court will convene behind closed doors to review and decide on whether to add one or more of the court cases that challenge DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, to their schedule for the coming year. DOMA, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, states that the only marriage to be recognized by the Federal government is that of one between one man and one woman. Although 9 states have since signed same-sex marriage into law (with more considering the possibility in the future), DOMA is still enforced and continues to deny Federal recognition of those marriages. This means that legally married same-sex couples continue to suffer the consequences of being denied more than 1100 benefits that are automatically awarded to opposite-sex couples once they marry.
The cases in question have taken years to reach this stage, and many affected couples are waiting nervously to find out whether this will be the year that finally sees the repeal of this unfair and discriminatory law. Never before has the Supreme Court had so many gay rights cases reach their desks all at once. This is obviously a sign of the times that this long fought arena of unequal treatment has reached its limits, and the time has finally come to put an end to a cruel and heart-breaking law that puts loving, committed same-sex couples through hell on a daily basis. Some are denied what is legally theirs in financial matters, some are denied visitation rights when their spouses are hospitalized, and some are separated when the American spouse is denied the right to sponsor their foreign spouse for permanent residency here in the U.S. The right to be able to live with your spouse in your own country is being denied to that American citizen. Many are forced into exile to live in a country that is not their own. The foreign spouse is not recognized as such, and therefore not allowed to work. This places an unimaginable burden on some of these couples while they struggle financially, often while raising families. These are just a few of the rights that are frequently denied legally married same-sex couples on a daily basis.
My wife and I are at the forefront of this particular fight for our rights. DOMA cruelly rips at our very beings in its blatant disregard of our relationship and legal marriage, as it chooses to completely ignore the life that we have built together over the past 8 years as a couple and as a family. This is something that an opposite-sex couple does not have to think twice about. Just being married is enough to be officially and legally acknowledged. It makes stories like the recent one about Janeane Garafalo’s joke marriage all the more sickening.
I hope and I pray that the Supreme Court chooses to give their attention to at least one of these cases, and ultimately makes the decision that will go down in history as one that shows that the United States of America is still a nation that stands up for the rights of all its citizens in its fair and equal treatment of all. Great strides have been made during this current administration, but so much more is left to be done. I hope that while we wait for the Supreme Court’s decision, the President and Congress will take the necessary steps to help those binational couples who are affected by DOMA, and put into effect legislation that will allow American citizens to sponsor their same-sex partners for permanent residency. The passing of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) will do much to alleviate the hardship and pain suffered by these couples. Public opinion is rapidly changing as the percentage of Americans that support same-sex marriage now outweighs those who either don’t, or who are unsure. Now that is a statistic to be proud of.
For more information on this subject, please see my category ‘DOMA, UAFA, and the Respect For Marriage Act‘, and visit the links below for a history on the fight against DOMA.
Thank you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act
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