President Obama, who said as a candidate that he would seek repeal of a law denying federal recognition of same-sex marriage, has angered gay rights groups with court arguments portraying the law as a nondiscriminatory measure that "preserves scarce government resources."
The Justice Department's filing with a federal court in Santa Ana was the administration's first statement on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that denies federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples. Those benefits include joint tax filing, Social Security survivors' payments and spousal immigration status.The law also allows states to withhold recognition of same-sex marriages performed in another state or country.
Obama called the law "abhorrent" during the presidential campaign and said he would work to overturn it. He has not presented any such legislation to Congress since taking office, however."Same-sex couples and their families are not seeking subsidies," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "We pay taxes equally, contribute to our communities equally, support each other equally, pay equally into Social Security, ...
Obama angers gays with marriage law defense (SFChronicle)
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igualdad 974 days ago
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