don't have the "standing" to challenge DOMA in the first place. The
couple has not shown that any other state has refused to recognize
their California marriage or that they've been denied any federal benefits. The filing also states Congress was "rational" in concluding that "there is a legitimate government interest in maintaining the status quo regarding the distribution of federal benefits in the face of serious and fluid policy differences in and among the states."
Hmmm...hate on DOMA in theory, but uphold it in practice. If the
intent was for Obama to have a big fat gay wedding cake and eat it,
too -- he failed.
"The duty of the president is to uphold the Constitution" Equality
California director Geoff Kors told SF Weekly. (Equality California
was itself widely criticized last week after advising to hold off the
gay wedding cake order altogether until the 2012 election, instead of
2010). "[The Constitution] has an equal protection clause, and you
don't file a brief saying that discrimination against a minority group
is rational."
Kors said today's brief was at least an
improvement over a June filing by the government that gay rights
advocates condemned as blatantly homophobic. Both Equality California
and the National Center for Lesbian Rights issued statements saying
they were heartened by the statement that the administration wanted the
law repealed. They also were glad that the brief asserted that they
believe gay parents are no better or worse than heterosexual ones, and
any such argument should not be used to justify DOMA.
"The
federal government's recognition that same-sex parents are just as fit
as heterosexual parents is significant and historic," said NCLR
executive director Kate Kendall in a statement.
But the bottom line is LGBT folks aren't happy, and the LGBT honeymoon period with Obama just may be coming to an end.
"There's
a sense of people losing some patience and disappointment that the
president said he'd be a fierce advocate for LGBT equality, but hasn't
really done anything substantive yet to show it," Kors said.
