Find out how to Protest D.O.M.A.I'm finding out many people don't know what D.O.M.A. is. Even more disappointing is the fact that many don't even realize that it exists.
I'm going to spell DOMA without periods from this point forward, because I just find it more visually appealing. Now, let's talk about DOMA.
DOMA is America's Prop 8.
DOMA is the DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT. It should have been called DOMAFH (Defense of Marriage Act for Heterosexuals).
In simplest terms it is a federal equivalent to California's notorious Proposition 8. In the same way Prop 8 discriminates against Gay Marriage in California, DOMA does the same on a national scale.
DOMA was signed into Federal law by Bill Clinton in September of 1996. The bill was passed by a majority vote by both Congress (85-14) and the House of Representatives (342-67). The bill was passed in fear that one or more states at the time would want to legalize same sex marriages. The main purpose of the bill was to ensure that same-sex marriages would not have to be recognized under the Constitution of the United States. So, if you're marriage is recognized in Connecticut, that means it doesn't have to be recognized in any other territory of the U.S.
Here are the two main clauses of DOMA:
POWERS RESERVED TO THE STATES:
`No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.'.
DEFINITION OF 'MARRIAGE' AND 'SPOUSE'
`In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word `marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word `spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.'.
`No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.'.
DEFINITION OF 'MARRIAGE' AND 'SPOUSE'
`In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word `marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word `spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.'.
Join your friends and family of the LGBT Community and Protest DOMA on January 10th. We need to collect 1 Million signatures from across the country to President Obama on his Inauguration Day. We will not wait for him to act on his promises to our community.
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