Feb 23, 2011

Gay Politics

Justice Department to Stop Defending Federal Law on Gay Marriage

President Obama, in a major legal policy shift, has directed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act - the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages - against lawsuits challenging it as unconstitutional.... and bad for re-election campaigns.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday sent a letter to Congress to inform them that the Justice Department will now take the position in court that the Defense of
Marriage Act should be struck down as a violation of gay couples' rights to equal protection under the law.

"The President and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation warrant heightened scrutiny and that, as applied to same-sex couples legally married under state law" a crucial provision of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, Mr. Holder wrote.

The part that was still barely legible under a pile of eraser junk were some doodles and a half sentence about how Mr. Obama would probably need the gay vote in the next election. There were some bullet points about how he hadn't fulfilled any of his campaign promises to the gay community, and he ought to throw this half hearted effort to make it look like he was doing something.

The final note was, we'll see if they buy that.

1 comment:

Cthulhu said...

If the "Sacred institution" of marriage cannot defend it against some poofters, then mayhaps we should think our adherence to this hokey notion?


Seriously, this is an issue for small-minded, inconsiderate...oh wait. Nevermind. I totally understand why intolerant abscesses think that this means anything.