The author of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has officially come out in favor of repealing the law in an Op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. Bob Barr is a congressman from Georgia, and in 1996 he wrote the law that greatly limited the ability of same-sex couples to receive federal benefits like Social Security and immigration rights.
DOMA effectively defined marriage as between one man and one woman for the purpose of the federal government, and allowed states to not accept same-sex marriages from other states. The law was signed by then President Bill Clinton and became a lightning rod of controversy ever since, even though we did not see same-sex marriage become legal in any state until 2003.
The momentum seems to be with repealing DOMA, but even Barr admits his new position is more about politics than support of GLBT rights, so who knows where this fight will go. What do others think?
– Andy
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