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NEWS & LETTERS, April - May 2009
No halfway opposition to DOMA!
On March 2, some married, same-sex couples in Massachusetts filed suit against the federal government to overturn DOMA, the notorious "Defense of Marriage Act" passed by the Clinton Administration. Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the failure of the Queer movement to challenge injustice at its root.
If it is successful, the pending suit will not overturn DOMA in its entirety, a measure that even President Obama (who is against same-sex marriage, but is in favor of civil unions) supports. Rather, the suit narrowly challenges one provision of DOMA: the fact that the federal government does not have to recognize same-sex marriages deemed legal by various states. What this means is that if the lawsuit is successful, same-sex couples in Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont and Connecticut (the only states where same-sex marriage is legal) will have access to the federal rights of marriage under the equal protection clause. Couples in states like New York--which recognizes same-sex marriages from other states, but doesn't allow them to be performed in-state--would presumably get the same benefits as those in Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont and Connecticut. However, same-sex couples in states where same-sex marriage is not legal will continue to face discrimination at the local, state, and federal levels. Simply put, this challenge does nothing for those of us who are the worst off in the struggle for marriage equality.
I understand that there are tactical reasons to prefer dismantling DOMA one step at a time. Same-sex couples in Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut, and possibly New York stand to benefit tremendously from the current suit, assuming it's successful, and there are good reasons to think that it will be successful. But when the marriage equality movement addresses inequity at the federal level, as this suit proposes to do, there is a moral and political imperative to be sure that the benefits will accrue to all couples, not just those who are privileged enough to live in places where they're already doing a little bit better than the rest of us.
If we really believe that there's nothing our love cannot face--as many of us do--and we believe that injustice must always be faced, must always be challenged, and can never be allowed to stand unopposed, then we should stop sacrificing principles for tactics whenever the opportunity arises. DOMA should be opposed in toto.
--Amy
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