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The Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA)

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The Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA)
Same sex marriage a federal duty.
Same sex marriage has been a debatable issue in the United States for many decades now, but just in 1993, Baehr v. Miike, a legal case of three same-sex couples decided by The Supreme Court of Hawaii, alarmed the nation when ruled that a ban on same sex marriage constituted discrimination based on sex. During that time, no one state allowed same-sex marriage but all of them recognized marriages from each other. Thus, if back then with Baehr v. Miike case, Hawaii had recognized same sex marriage, other states would have had recognized it too. It was then, as an immediate response to the Hawaiian case, the creation of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), an Act that was passed by the federal government in 1996 …show more content…
Despite the fact of DOMA with the definition of marriage as a union is between one and a one woman, with Minnesota being the recent one, today twelve states have approved same sex marriage. This battle of same-sex equality has been won in these states but same-sex marriage is still prohibited in almost all over the country. Same-sex couple is a reality, and real people are being hurt but this laws that discriminate them by not allowing their love to become legally recognized as of now by the federal government. Therefore, in order to end the movement of discrimination against homosexual families, same-sex marriage should become legal at the federal …show more content…
But in order to make an impact at the federal level, President Obama needs more than that, it needs DOMA to be repealed. One of the biggest cases regarding the unconstitutionality of DOMA is a case United States v. Windsor heard on March 27, 2013 by the Supreme Court. The claimant Edie Winsor argues about the constitutional right of the U.S. government to refuse the recognition of same-sex marriages that were previously legalized by states were such marriage is legal (Huffington Post 2013). According to The Huffington Post (2013) during the hearing, Justice Anthony Kennedy was apparently concerned by the lack of recognition of DOMA of “same-sex unions that are already recognized by states”. In addition, and Justice Elena Kagan showed similar inclination against DOMA, “Suggesting the law was "infected with prejudice, fear, spite, and animus…” (The Huffington Post
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