An article in the New York Times announced that the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders group plans to file suit in Federal District Court in Boston to challenge the Defense of Marriage Act which prevents same-sex couples from accessing some 1,100 federal rights and benefits based on marital status. The suit is based on grounds of equal-protection, a constitutional mandate that laws must be equally applied to everyone. The plaintiffs, eight couples and three widowers, were all married in Massachusetts, applied for various federal benefits and were denied due to the Defense of Marriage Act.The federal suit will not challenge the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (1996), which preserves the right of states to not recognize or treat relationships between same-sex couples as marriage, but will narrowly focus on equal protection for married same-sex couples regarding federal income tax, Social Security, federal employees and retirees and passport issuance. This suit will be the first in federal courts in which married same-sex couples who have applied for and been denied federal benefits.
This will be an interesting case to follow. What do you think the outcome will be? Will the law suit fly or be shot down?
I suppose this would seem like a very weird discussion sixty years ago, but here we are and we need to face it. I do not sense that these couples have some political agenda to their case, but rather have a practical problem with some of the law's restrictions. It must be very difficult to not get the benefits of social security, income tax, etc.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the bottom line continues to be whether or not we as a society want to validate these relationships by giving them the same recognitions. The argument sort of reminds me of the legalization of marijuana. Many would argue that their use does not harm anyone and therefore should not be restricted. However, others fear that making it legal would be condoning the behavior.