News Release
For Immediate Release: February 23, 2011
Contact: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355
President Obama’s “Evolving” View on Same Sex Marriage Impacts the Nation
(Harrisburg) — Today the US Department of Justice, instructed by the White House, announced it would no longer defend a federal law – the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The President has deemed Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide defender of traditional marriage between one man and one woman, notes that the President is on the losing end of the debate on marriage.
“Thirty states, including California, have passed Marriage Protection Amendments to their states’ constitutions with an average approval percentage well into the 60’s. It is quite clear that the majority of Americans still believe that marriage is between one man and one woman and worth defending, no matter what the President says” remarked Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
Recent polling on same-sex marriage has shown a variety of results, mostly dependent upon the wording of the question. However, since 2004 the voters in twenty-six states have moved to protect marriage as between one man and one woman by defining it as such in their constitutions.
The DOJ statement says in part, “. . . the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny.” Where is the documented history of discrimination? African Americans faced real discrimination, unlike homosexuals who have never been prevented from voting, never declared 3/5s of a person, never enslaved, never forced to drink from separate water fountains nor forced to sit in the back of the bus. This statement like so many others is based on the fraudulent assertion that homosexuals are born that way, even though there is no credible scientific evidence that homosexuality is inborn or unchangeable.
“The DOJ’s statement concludes that Section 3 of DOMA remains in effect, but the Administration will no longer defend it. However this Administration’s disdain for DOMA has been quite evident from the start and has worked for two years to undermine it. In 2009, Secretary of State Clinton announced that the partners of homosexual diplomats would be eligible for spousal benefits, a move the rest of the US government quickly followed. This is all part of the Blueprint for Positive Change, a comprehensive homosexual rights document given to the Obama Administration in December 2008. The announcement made today is simply a natural next step in Obama’s ‘evolving’ view on same-sex marriage . . . a view that the majority of Americans will see as a direct assault upon their marriages and families,” concluded Gramley.
The announcement means the Department of Justice’s defense of DOMA will be withdrawn in two pending cases, Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management (United States District Court for the District of Connecticut) and Windsor v. United States of America (United States District Court for the Southern District of New York). These cases challenge Section 3 of the federal DOMA, which defines marriage as one man and one woman for purposes of federal law and federal benefits for federal employees. There are three other similar challenges pending: Dragovich v. U.S. Department of the Treasury (United States District Court for the Northern District of California); Gill v. Office of Personnel Management; and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (both First Circuit Court of Appeals arising out of Massachusetts).
# # #
Loading ...