On Friday, the Obama Administration filed a strongly worded legal brief stating that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is motivated by hostility towards LGBTs and is unconstitutional. 

The Department of Justice filed the brief in a San Francisco federal court in support of a joint Lambda Legal and Morrison & Foerster LLP case brought by Karen Golinski, a federal court employee who was denied health insurance benefits for her wife. 

“Karen is being compensated differently than her co-workers because her spouse is a woman,” said Rita Lin, an associate attorney at Morrison & Foerster LLP. “There is no adequate reason for the federal government to be compensating its employees differently on that basis.”

To read more about the case, click here.

The brief encouraged the court not to dismiss Karen’s case because DOMA violates the guarantee of equal protection under the US Constitution. This brief is the first court filing by the administration actively urging a judge to find DOMA unconstitutional, meaning that the Justice Department has finally lived up to it name by no longer defending this unjust law.  

Freedom to Marry applauds the Obama administration for fulfilling their promise to no longer defend this discriminatory law. However, Freedom to Marry stills call on President Obama to join the majority of Americans in supporting the freedom to marry. This calls from the nearly 115,000 Americans who have joined Freedom to Marry’s Say, “I Do” campaign, signing an open letter to the President asking him to support the freedom to marry. To sign the letter, click here.