Author: Diane Gramley

In 1996 the Defense of Marriage Act passed with veto-proof majorities in both the US House and US Senate. President Bill Clinton, although he called it “divisive and unnecessary”, signed the bill into law. It defines marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. Of course, the 2013 Supreme Court decision in United States vs. Windsor weakened it and, then, the June 2015 Supreme Court Obergefell decision finished the job. In 2015 the US was only one of 23 countries out of 195 that redefined marriage. But the Democrats want more.