Obama administration defending DOMA=EPIC FAIL!

The entire legal brief is here.

For several excerpts of the brief and an excellent, concise breakdown, read this article: Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.

This bit of the brief really gets me:

Plaintiffs also maintain that DOMA discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, in violation of their right to the equal protection of the law, see Complaint, ¶ 20, but DOMA is not subject to heightened scrutiny on that basis. As an initial matter, plaintiffs misperceive the nature of the line that Congress has drawn. DOMA does not discriminate against homosexuals in the provision of federal benefits. To the contrary, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited in federal employment and in a wide array of federal benefits programs by law, regulation, and Executive order.... Section 3 of DOMA does not distinguish among persons of different sexual orientations, but rather it limits federal benefits to those who have entered into the traditional form of marriage.

Even though they argue elsewhere in the brief: "To deny federal recognition to same-sex marriages will thus preserve scarce government resources," they also say, "DOMA does not discriminate against homosexuals in the provision of federal benefits." The idea that DOMA doesn't discriminate against same-sex couples who are married or would be if they could is crazy to me.

During his inauguration speech, President Obama said:

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

What happened to everybody being equal? I guess the catch is that it's a "God-given promise." Too bad we as a country have never been that good about keeping Church and State separate.

During his acceptance speech, President Obama also said, "I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and to live lives free of discrimination." Not so much with the lives free from discrimination then?

In the meantime, remember I'm not a Democrat; I have no party affiliation. My vote is not a given. It's really not when you piss me off on LGBTQ issues.


A year ago on TTaT: Where the goth kids are