Gay-Rights Groups Protest Renewed DOJ Defense Of DOMA

WASHINGTON -- The detente between the gay-rights community and the Obama administration after the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" was always bound to end, as that one major legislative victory gave way to tougher debates over marriage and workplace discrimination, but it's nonetheless a bit surprising how quickly the two camps have resumed sparring.

On Thursday, as Politico reported, gay-rights advocates criticized the Justice Department for filing another legal brief defending the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defines the federal government's view of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Shmaler told The Huffington Post the department was merely fulfilling its legal obligations, "defending the statute, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged."

But LGBT groups have long since soured on this line of defense, arguing that President Barack Obama could simply declare the government uninterested in backing DOMA's constitutionality, allowing it to be struck down.

Precedent certainly falls on the side of the Justice Department in this debate. But legal experts aren't sold on the administration's claim that defending DOMA is the only option.

The politics, however, are much more fascinating than the legal vagaries, in part because of Obama's own place in civil-rights history.

"The repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' was a breathtaking accomplishment," Richard Socarides, president of the gay-rights group Equality Matters, told The Huffington Post. "President Obama will get credit. But from this point forward he has a choice. If he builds on it, he could become the MLK for the gays. But if he continues to allow the Justice Department to file these briefs opposing full equality, he will squander an historic opportunity."

Using the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as an enticement for presidential leadership is a fairly direct card for the LGBT community to play. It's made a bit more timely and poignant by the fact the Monday marks the nation's observance of King's birthday.

Comments

[lackofoversight]

09:13 PM on 01/17/2011

Originally President Obama was for gay marriage. Then he changed his mind and now believes in civil unions. Although marriage is preferable to me, it is not crucial what term is used for gay unions .... What is important is that gay unions are recognized under the law and granted exactly the same rights and privileges as married couples.

It seems enough discussion, debate and time has lapsed in trying to achieve equality. The time has come to hear and see President Obama's proposal for legally recognizing these unions.

[Robert Galyean]

06:36 PM on 01/16/2011

I do not understand what the DOJ's interest in DOMA is. Could someone please enlighten me?

[WheelsOnFire]

08:07 PM on 01/17/2011

The President, and his Administration, must uphold laws passed by Congress. So, the DOJ is obligated to uphold DOMA whether it really wants to or not. Of course, the DOJ is not necessarily required to assign its best and brightest to the task.

[Topps]

12:06 PM on 01/16/2011

Gays should have rights.Just keep in mind you are making progress.If republicans were handling your agendas.Where would they be? Things take time.

[Tommygun264]

10:19 AM on 01/16/2011

"I want to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable." - Barak Obama, September 2008 The LGBT community is only doing what candidate Obama told us he wanted us to do to President Obama.

[capercaper]

12:11 PM on 01/16/2011

ug 10, 2010

"But in the real world, getting hit with criticism from the left on a regular basis has to be frustrating. White House advisers, having been on the inside of negotiations with conservative Democrats and Republicans over health care, the stimulus, and Wall Street reform, would insist that they have a more realistic view of what's genuinely possible amid today's political realities. They would also argue that lefty criticism risks depressing the base's enthusiasm heading into the midterms, conceivably returning one or both houses of Congress to GOP control."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/08/flashback_obama_white_house_re.html

[Tommygun264]

06:12 PM on 01/16/2011

And if someone says it in an article that just happens to support the conservadem's outlook, it MUST be true. The truth is that the majority of Democrats who lost their seats in the midterms were blue dogs, not liberals, and the majority of seats lost were in districts that had only shifted Democratic in the previous election cycle. Scapegoating those who dared to hold the administration's feet to the fire is far more destructive than holding the administration accountable.

[hackerblaster]

08:28 AM on 01/16/2011

The RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA must be stopped or it will destroy the entire universe!

Please see the agenda list from these RADICAL HOMOSEXUALS. It is horrifying!

1) Have the same rights everyone else has

[kwinter]

09:24 AM on 01/16/2011

Wow ... that's a RADICAL AGENDA!

[LeftLeanWing]

10:46 AM on 01/16/2011

The conservatives like using the word RADICAL 

It POLLS well

[IreneNH]

08:22 AM on 01/16/2011

While I personally support gay marriage, I am a bit dismayed by these protests.

"The repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' was a breathtaking accomplishment." Yes, it was. And to protest the President so soon after its repeal, seems to me to be counterproductive. President Obama is the best "friend" they have had in a very long time. Be grateful for the time being. Getting President Obama re-elected rather than challenging him is in their best interests.

[cslib]

09:51 AM on 01/16/2011

Then you have no idea what it is about.

[LeftLeanWing]

10:48 AM on 01/16/2011

I'm gay and I have more than an Idea....

And I Agree 100% with IreneNH.

[WheelsOnFire]

08:16 PM on 01/17/2011

You're quite right. Repeal of DADT was breathtaking. And we should support President Obama because he certainly has been the best friend the gay community has had in the White House in a very long time. And, yes, we need to get him re-elected if we're going to have any chance at getting equal rights in this country that was founded up on the notion of equal rights for all.

The alternatives -- Huckabee, Pence, Palin, Romney, Pawlenty -- are infinitely worse, and especially so with the House likely to remain in Republican hands for at least another 4 or 6 years, and the Senate hanging by a thread currently and likely to flip to Republican control in 2 years.

Yes, we need a Democrat in the White House for another 6 years from today -- if only to preserve the forward progress we've made.

[rudolphjones]

07:43 AM on 01/16/2011

They seem to need attention

[hackerblaster]

08:12 AM on 01/16/2011

You don't think maybe it might just be screaming for the same rights that everyone else has? That people like you take away from them?

[LeftLeanWing]

10:50 AM on 01/16/2011

Then WHY aren't they screaming at the Republicans....

The REAL BARRIER to repealing this Law....

Yes... we should hold Obama accountable.
But he's not the only one on the Field of Play...

Why aren't They(we) Protesting Republicans Instead ?

[WheelsOnFire]

08:17 PM on 01/17/2011

The lack of equal rights in a country that boasts about equal rights for all -- or, to put it simply, the end of discrimination -- is what needs attention.

[LightShadow62]

04:15 AM on 01/16/2011

Do they just not get the process?

Yes, as with DADT, the President could order the DOD to not enforce a rule which might work in the short term but what happens when another anti-gay President takes office and tells DOD to start enforcing the rule again, even to make the action retroactive.

This is why it needs to be fix in Congress NOT the White House.

[cslib]

09:55 AM on 01/16/2011

No he can tell them not defend unconstitutional laws then the courts fond the law unconstitutional and is no longer a law. It is you that doesn't get it.

[LeftLeanWing]

10:57 AM on 01/16/2011

Personally I don't think accepting LowCourt rulings as the last word...

What would happen if another LowerCourt ruling then declared it was Constitutional ?

I Think on Principle he has decided to Defend all Laws on the Books.
And I support his consistency.

No one said this Fight for Our Rights was going to be easy.

[LightShadow62]

11:11 AM on 01/16/2011

Regardless of whether or not the President thinks a particular laws is or is not constitutional it is not up to the Executive branch to decide which current laws are to be enforced, regardless of the actions of other Presidents. And if the President does not defend established law against ruling of the minor courts then that means that individual judges around the country will be writing Federal law. The Constitution allows only two paths for overturning a Federal law, one Congress changes it and the President accepts the change OR the Supreme Court (and only SCOTUS) strikes it down.

[BishopKingPawn]

02:49 AM on 01/16/2011

I wonder if the squeeky wheel will get the grease.

[jeremyfive]

12:23 AM on 01/16/2011

"Pursuit of happiness" means precisely that. Gays have shown the lasting and loving character of their bonds through their 40, 50 and 60 year relationships. It is time that ALL people are treated equally under the constitution, not just heterosexuals. Full marriage rights and priviledges are essential, nothing less. Anything less delineates the creation of a underclass of citizens who are forbidden to marry the partner of their choosing.

[WheelsOnFire]

08:20 PM on 01/17/2011

Precisely.

Very well said -- in fact, it even coincides with court rulings on the issue.

Currently, this country looks more like India, with its class system, than the country of freedom and equality for all that was envisioned by our Founding Fathers. Gays and gay couples are definitely treated like second-class citizens in this country.

[WheelsOnFire]

08:21 PM on 01/17/2011

Forgot to mention -- fanned and faved, too!

[JDM73]

11:13 PM on 01/15/2011

Thank God for gay rights groups--for their dogged persistence in holding the president's feet to the fire when just about everyone else on the Left has wimped out.

[Horatio]

09:10 PM on 01/15/2011

Sam, you seem surprised that we're "sparring" so soon after the repeal of DADT. I'm sorry, I guess when you're used to having ALL of your civil rights, you can play it cool as far as time frames go. BTW, what is the "appropriate" amount of time you think we should wait before we move on to the next injustice? Just asking...

[WheelsOnFire]

08:24 PM on 01/17/2011

Well said.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

We've been denied justice for far too long.

If Sam or others like him were the victim of an injustice, there would be non-stop howling until it was remedied.

We need to keep howling until the more than 1,100 rights straights have that gays do not have either been eliminated or granted to this country's gay citizens as well.

[HHGodd]

08:55 PM on 01/15/2011

Wow, I just had to post something fast because I'm not used to posting something and have it pop up right away without being OK'd by the mods. Good times!

[HHGodd]

08:53 PM on 01/15/2011

Barack Obama is Barack Obama. He's not MLK, he's not the savior of the gay community or the "black" president. He's the American president who has to govern for all Americans all the time. DADT repeal was a huge win for gay rights and human rights in general. But he can't spend his entire presidency focused in gays rights legislation. I say just be patient and let the man do his job. They all hated him the months leading up to the DADT repeal but he did what was right. He's actually done more for gay rights than any president in recent times. But I guess it all comes with the territory.

[Acert]

09:52 PM on 01/15/2011

"He's actually done more for gay rights than any president in recent times."

================================================================

That's not saying much.

[iman2000]

07:07 AM on 01/16/2011

"He's actually done more for gay rights than any president in recent times."

I've been reviewing gay rights legislation under the previous presidents and to be exact, it IS saying much.

[HHGodd]

10:43 AM on 01/16/2011

He's not totally ignored gay rights like almost every president before him. But he also can't make gays rights his sole focus either. Civil rights took decades to win and gays rights is next. I'd love to see everyone have equal rights but it's something that is gig to take more time than a single presidential term.

[allidoiswin]

08:40 PM on 01/15/2011

Here we go again. Fine be mad the President, And let a Republican back in 2012 you know he/she could reverse DADT if it is approved.

[Tommygun264]

10:12 AM on 01/16/2011

Perhaps if you spent as much time LISTENING to the President as you do dismissing everyone with a legitimate complaint, you would remember that President Obama has repeatedly challenged us to hold him accountable:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/08/flashback_obama_white_house_re.html

There is a big difference between holding President Obama accountable and supporting the pub party.

[capercaper]

12:07 PM on 01/16/2011

From the very article -- written in Aug 2010, before the midterm elections -- for which you provide the link

"But in the real world, getting hit with criticism from the left on a regular basis has to be frustrating. White House advisers, having been on the inside of negotiations with conservative Democrats and Republicans over health care, the stimulus, and Wall Street reform, would insist that they have a more realistic view of what's genuinely possible amid today's political realities. They would also argue that lefty criticism risks depressing the base's enthusiasm heading into the midterms, conceivably returning one or both houses of Congress to GOP control."