Defense of marriage Act - wikipedia Defense of marriage Act `` DOMA '' redirects here. For other uses, see Doma ( disambiguation ). For other uses of `` Defense of Marriage Act '', see Defense of marriage amendment. Defense of Marriage Act Long title An Act to define and protect the institution of marriage Acronyms ( colloquial ) DOMA Enacted by the 104th United States Congress Effective September 21, 1996 Citations Public law Pub. L. 104 -- 199 Statutes at Large 110 Stat. 2419 ( 1996 ) Codification Titles amended 1 U.S.C. General Provisions 28 U.S.C. Judiciary and Judicial Procedure U.S.C. sections created 1 U.S.C. § 7 ( Struck down, June 26, 2013 ) Legislative history Introduced in the House as H.R. 3396 by Bob Barr ( R -- GA ) on May 7, 1996 Committee consideration by Committee on the Judiciary ( Subcommittee on the Constitution ) Passed the House on July 12, 1996 ( Yeas : 342 ; Nays : 67 ) Passed the Senate on September 10, 1996 ( Yeas : 85 ; Nays : 14 ) Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996 United States Supreme Court cases United States v. Windsor, No. 12 - 307, 570 U.S. ___ ( 2013 ), in which Section 3 ( 1 U.S.C. § 7 ) was struck down by the Supreme Court on June 26, 2013 The Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) ( Pub. L. 104 -- 199, 110 Stat. 2419, enacted September 21, 1996, 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C ) was a United States federal law that, prior to being ruled unconstitutional, defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same - sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. Until Section 3 of the Act was struck down in 2013 ( United States v. Windsor ), DOMA, in conjunction with other statutes, had barred same - sex married couples from being recognized as `` spouses '' for purposes of federal laws, effectively barring them from receiving federal marriage benefits. DOMA 's passage did not prevent individual states from recognizing same - sex marriage, but it imposed constraints on the benefits received by all legally married same - sex couples. Initially introduced in May 1996, DOMA passed both houses of Congress by large, veto - proof majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in September 1996. By defining `` spouse '' and its related terms to signify a heterosexual couple in a recognized marriage, Section 3 codified non-recognition of same - sex marriages for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, social security survivors ' benefits, immigration, bankruptcy, and the filing of joint tax returns, as well as excluding same - sex spouses from the scope of laws protecting families of federal officers ( 18 U.S.C. § 115 ), laws evaluating financial aid eligibility, and federal ethics laws applicable to opposite - sex spouses. In United States v. Windsor ( 2013 ), the U.S. Supreme Court declared Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Obergefell v. Hodges ( 2015 ) struck down the act 's provisions disallowing same - sex marriages to be performed under federal jurisdiction. Contents 1 Background 2 Text 3 Enactment and role of President Clinton 4 Impact 5 Political debate 5.1 Bush administration 5.2 Obama administration 5.3 Congressional intervention 6 Repeal proposals 7 Challenges to Section 3 in Federal court 7.1 Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management 7.2 Gill and Massachusetts 7.3 United States v. Windsor 7.4 Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management 7.5 Other cases 7.5. 1 Military and veterans cases 7.5. 2 Bankruptcy court 7.5. 3 Immigration cases 7.5. 4 Tribunals 8 Challenges to Section 2 in federal court 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Bibliography 13 External links Background Main article : Same - sex marriage in the United States The issue of legal recognition of same - sex marriage attracted mainstream attention infrequently until the 1980s. A sympathetic reporter heard several gay men raise the issue in 1967 and described it as `` high among the deviate 's hopes ''. In one early incident, gay activist Jack Baker brought suit against the state of Minnesota in 1970 after being denied a marriage license to marry another man ; the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled ( in Baker v. Nelson ) that limiting marriage to opposite - sex couples did not violate the Constitution. Baker later changed his legal name to Pat Lynn McConnell and married his male partner in 1971, but the marriage was not legally recognized. A 1972 off - Broadway play, Nightride, depicted `` a black -- white homosexual marriage ''. In 1979, IntegrityUSA, an organization of gay Episcopalians, raised the issue when the U.S. Episcopal Church considered a ban on the ordination of homosexuals as priests. The New York Times said the question was `` all but dormant '' until the late 1980s when, according to gay activists, `` the AIDS epidemic... brought questions of inheritance and death benefits to many people 's minds. '' In May 1989, Denmark established registered partnerships that granted same - sex couples many of the rights associated with marriage. In the same year, New York 's highest court ruled that two homosexual men qualified as a family for the purposes of New York City 's rent - control regulations. Within the movement for gay and lesbian rights, a debate between advocates of sexual liberation and of social integration was taking shape, with Andrew Sullivan publishing an essay `` Here Comes the Groom '' in The New Republic in August 1989 arguing for same - sex marriage : `` A need to rebel has quietly ceded to a desire to belong. '' In September 1989, the State Bar Association of California urged recognition of marriages between homosexuals even before gay rights advocates adopted the issue. Gary Bauer, head of the socially conservative Family Research Council, predicted the issue would be `` a major battleground in the 1990s ''. In 1991, Georgia Attorney General Michael J. Bowers withdrew a job offer to a lesbian who planned to marry another woman in a Jewish wedding ceremony. In 1993, a committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a report asking Lutherans to consider blessing same - sex marriages and stating that lifelong abstinence was harmful to same - sex couples. The Conference of Bishops responded, `` There is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. '' In a critique of radicalism in the gay liberation movement, Bruce Bawer 's A Place at the Table ( 1993 ) advocated the legalization of same - sex marriage. In Baehr v. Miike ( 1993 ), the Supreme Court of Hawaii ruled that the state must show a compelling interest in prohibiting same - sex marriage. This finding prompted concern among opponents of same - sex marriage, who feared that same - sex marriage might become legal in Hawaii and that other states would recognize or be compelled to recognize those marriages under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. The House Judiciary Committee 's 1996 Report called for DOMA as a response to Baehr, because `` a redefinition of marriage in Hawaii to include homosexual couples could make such couples eligible for a whole range of federal rights and benefits ''. Text The main provisions of the act were as follows : Section 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the `` Defense of Marriage Act ''. Section 2. Powers reserved to the states No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship. Section 3. Definition of marriage In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ' marriage ' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ' spouse ' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. Enactment and role of President Clinton Georgia Representative Bob Barr, then a Republican, authored the Defense of Marriage Act and introduced it in the House of Representatives on May 7, 1996. Senator Don Nickles, ( R ) Oklahoma, introduced the bill in the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee stated that the Act was intended by Congress to `` reflect and honor a collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality ''. The Act 's congressional sponsors stated, `` ( T ) he bill amends the U.S. Code to make explicit what has been understood under federal law for over 200 years ; that a marriage is the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and a spouse is a husband or wife of the opposite sex. '' Nickles said, `` If some state wishes to recognize same - sex marriage, they can do so ''. He said the bill would ensure that `` the 49 other states do n't have to and the Federal Government does not have to. '' In opposition to the bill, Colorado Rep. Patricia Schroeder said, `` You ca n't amend the Constitution with a statute. Everybody knows that. This is just stirring the political waters and seeing what hate you can unleash. '' Barr countered that the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution grants Congress power to determine `` the effect '' of the obligation of each state to grant `` full faith and credit '' to other states ' acts. The 1996 Republican Party platform endorsed DOMA, referencing only Section 2 of the act : `` We reject the distortion of ( anti-discrimination ) laws to cover sexual preference, and we endorse the Defense of Marriage Act to prevent states from being forced to recognize same - sex unions. '' The Democratic Party platform that year did not mention DOMA or same - sex marriage. In a June 1996 interview in the gay and lesbian magazine The Advocate, Clinton said, `` I remain opposed to same - sex marriage. I believe marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman. This has been my long - standing position, and it is not being reviewed or reconsidered. '' But he also criticized DOMA as `` divisive and unnecessary. '' The bill moved through Congress on a legislative fast track and met with overwhelming approval in both houses of the Republican - controlled Congress. On July 12, 1996, with only 65 Democrats and then Rep. Bernie Sanders ( Independent - Vermont ) and Rep. Steve Gunderson ( Republican - Wisconsin ), in opposition, 342 members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- 224 Republicans and 118 Democrats -- voted to pass DOMA. Then, on September 10, 1996, 84 Senators -- a majority of the Democratic Senators and all of the Republicans -- voted in favor of DOMA. Democratic Senators voted for the bill 32 to 14 ( with Pryor of Arkansas absent ), and Democratic Representatives voted for it 118 to 65, with 15 not participating. All Republicans in both houses voted for the bill with the sole exception of the one openly gay Republican Congressman, Rep. Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin. While his stated position was against same - sex marriage, Clinton criticized DOMA as `` unnecessary and divisive '', and his press - secretary called it `` gay baiting, plain and simple ''. However, after Congress had passed the bill with enough votes to override a presidential veto, Clinton signed DOMA. Years later, he said that he did so reluctantly in view of the veto - proof majority, both to avoid associating himself politically with the then - unpopular cause of same - sex marriage and to defuse momentum for a proposed Federal Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same - sex marriage. Clinton, who was traveling when Congress acted, signed it into law promptly upon returning to Washington, D.C., on September 21, 1996 ; no signing ceremony was held for DOMA and no photographs were taken of him signing it into law. The White House released a statement in which Clinton said `` that the enactment of this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation ''. In 2013, Mike McCurry, the White House press secretary at the time, recalled that Clinton 's `` posture was quite frankly driven by the political realities of an election year in 1996. '' James Hormel, who was appointed by Clinton as the first openly gay U.S. Ambassador, described the reaction from the gay community to Clinton signing DOMA as shock and anger. On Hormel 's account, Clinton had been the first President to advocate gay rights, push for AIDS funding, support gay and lesbian civil rights legislation, and appoint open LGBT people to his Administration. Thus his signing of DOMA was viewed by much of the community as a great betrayal. Clinton did not mention DOMA in his 2004 autobiography. Over time, Clinton 's public position on same - sex marriage shifted. He spoke out against the passage of California 's Proposition 8 and recorded robocalls urging Californians to vote against it. In July 2009, he officially came out in support for same - sex marriage. On August 13, 2009, during Netroots Nation, when confronted by LGBT activist Lane Hudson, Clinton explained that he had to sign DOMA in order to prevent a constitutional amendment that would proscribe same - sex marriage : `` We were attempting at the time, in a very reactionary Congress, to head off an attempt to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the states. And if you look at the eleven referenda much later -- in 2004, in the election -- which the Republicans put on the ballot to try to get the base vote for President Bush up, I think it 's obvious that something had to be done to try to keep the Republican Congress from presenting that. '' In an op - ed written on March 7, 2013, for The Washington Post, Clinton again suggested that DOMA was necessary in order to preclude, at that time, the passage of a constitutional amendment banning same - sex marriage and urged the Supreme Court, which would shortly hear arguments on United States v. Windsor, to overturn DOMA. Clinton 's explanation for signing DOMA has been disputed by gay rights activist Elizabeth Birch : `` In 1996, I was President of the Human Rights Campaign, and there was no real threat of a Federal Marriage Amendment. That battle would explode about eight years later, in 2004, when President Bush announced it was a central policy goal of his administration to pass such an amendment. '' Evan Wolfson, who, in 1996, ran the National Freedom to Marry Coalition, while an attorney at Lambda Legal, has also criticized the suggestion that DOMA was stopping something worse : `` That 's complete nonsense. There was no conversation about something ' worse ' until eight years later. There was no talk of a constitutional amendment, and no one even thought it was possible -- and, of course, it turned out it was n't really possible to happen. So, the idea that people were swallowing DOMA in order to prevent a constitutional amendment is really just historic revisionism and not true. That was never an argument made in the ' 90s. '' However, political discussion of the possibility of using a constitutional amendment to restrict marriage rights was not unheard of in the 1990s. In January 1996, for example, the House Judiciary Committee for the state of Hawaii voted 12 - 1 in favor of passing bill HB 117, which was aimed at amending the constitution of Hawaii to define marriage as involving one man and one woman. In 1998, the first anti-same - sex marriage amendment was added to the constitution of a U.S. state, though it was not until 2002 that a federal marriage amendment was first introduced in the U.S. Congress. Impact The General Accounting Office issued a report in 1997 identifying `` 1,049 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which benefits, rights, and privileges are contingent on marital status or in which marital status is a factor ''. In updating its report in 2004, the GAO found that this number had risen to 1,138 as of December 31, 2003. With respect to Social Security, housing, and food stamps, the GAO found that `` recognition of the marital relationship is integral to the design of the program ( s ). '' The report also noted several other major program categories that were affected -- veterans ' benefits, including pensions and survivor benefits ; taxes on income, estates, gifts, and property sales ; and benefits due federal employees, both civilian and military -- and identified specifics such as the rights of the surviving spouse of a creator of copyrighted work and the financial disclosure requirements of spouses of Congress members and certain officers of the federal government. Education loan programs and agriculture price support and loan programs also implicate spouses. Financial aid to `` family farms '' for example, is restricted to those in which `` a majority interest is held by individuals related by marriage or blood. '' Because the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act ( ERISA ) controls most employee benefits provided by private employers, DOMA removed some tax breaks for employers and employees in the private sector when it comes to health care, pension, and disability benefits to same - sex spouses on an equal footing with opposite - sex spouses. ERISA does not affect employees of state and local government or churches, nor does it extend to such benefits as employee leave and vacation. Under DOMA, persons in same - sex marriages were not considered married for immigration purposes. U.S. citizens and permanent residents in same - sex marriages could not petition for their spouses, nor could they be accompanied by their spouses into the U.S. on the basis of a family or employment - based visa. A non-citizen in such a marriage could not use it as the basis for obtaining a waiver or relief from removal from the U.S. Following the end of the U.S. military 's ban on service by open gays and lesbians, `` Do n't ask, do n't tell, '' in September 2011, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that DOMA limited the military 's ability to extend the same benefits to military personnel in same - sex marriages as their peers in opposite - sex marriages received, notably health benefits. Same - sex spouses of military personnel were denied the same access to military bases, legal counseling, and housing allowances provided to different - sex spouses. Political debate The 2000 Republican Party platform endorsed DOMA in general terms and indicated concern about judicial activism : `` We support the traditional definition of ' marriage ' as the legal union of one man and one woman, and we believe that federal judges and bureaucrats should not force states to recognize other living arrangements as marriages. '' The Democratic Party platform that year did not mention DOMA or marriage in this context. Bush administration In 2004, President George W. Bush endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment to restrict marriage to opposite - sex couples because he thought DOMA vulnerable : `` After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization. Their actions have created confusion on an issue that requires clarity. '' In January 2005, however, he said he would not lobby on its behalf, since too many U.S. senators thought DOMA would survive a constitutional challenge. Obama administration President Barack Obama 's 2008 political platform endorsed the repeal of DOMA. On June 12, 2009, the Justice Department issued a brief defending the constitutionality of DOMA in the case of Smelt v. United States, continuing its longstanding practice of defending all federal laws challenged in court. On June 15, 2009, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese wrote an open letter to Obama that asked for actions to balance the DOJ 's courtroom position : `` We call on you to put your principles into action and send legislation repealing DOMA to Congress. '' A representative of Lambda Legal, an LGBT impact litigation and advocacy organization, noted that the Obama administration 's legal arguments omitted the Bush administration 's assertion that households headed by opposite - sex spouses were better at raising children than those headed by same - sex spouses. On February 23, 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement regarding lawsuits challenging DOMA Section 3. He wrote : After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same - sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. He also announced that although it was no longer defending Section 3 in court, the administration intended to continue to enforce the law `` unless and until Congress repeals Section 3 or the judicial branch renders a definitive verdict against the law 's constitutionality. '' In a separate letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, Holder noted that Congress could participate in these lawsuits. On February 24, the Department of Justice notified the First Circuit Court of Appeals that it would `` cease to defend '' Gill and Massachusetts as well. On July 1, 2011, the DOJ, with a filing in Golinski, intervened for the first time on behalf of a plaintiff seeking to have DOMA Section 3 ruled unconstitutional, arguing that laws that use sexual orientation as a classification need to pass the court 's intermediate scrutiny standard of review. The DOJ made similar arguments in a filing in Gill on July 7. In June 2012, filing an amicus brief in Golinski, two former Republican Attorneys General, Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft, called the DOJ 's decision not to defend DOMA Section 3 `` an unprecedented and ill - advised departure from over two centuries of Executive Branch practice '' and `` an extreme and unprecedented deviation from the historical norm ''. Congressional intervention On March 4, 2011, Boehner announced that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group ( BLAG ) would convene to consider whether the House of Representatives should defend DOMA Section 3 in place of the Department of Justice, and on March 9 the committee voted 3 -- 2 to do so. On April 18, 2011, House leaders announced the selection of former United States Solicitor General Paul Clement to represent BLAG. Clement, without opposition from other parties to the case, filed a motion to be allowed to intervene in the suit `` for the limited purpose of defending the constitutionality of Section III '' of DOMA. On April 25, 2011, King & Spalding, the law firm through which Clement was handling the case, announced it was dropping the case. On the same day, Clement resigned from King & Spalding in protest and joined Bancroft PLLC, which took on the case. The House 's initial contract with Clement capped legal fees at $500,000, but on September 30 a revised contract raised the cap to $1.5 million. A spokesman for Boehner explained that BLAG would not appeal in all cases, citing bankruptcy cases that are `` unlikely to provide the path to the Supreme Court... ( E ) ffectively defending ( DOMA ) does not require the House to intervene in every case, especially when doing so would be prohibitively expensive. '' Repeal proposals Further information : Respect for Marriage Act On September 15, 2009, three Democratic members of Congress, Jerrold Nadler of New York, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Jared Polis of Colorado, introduced legislation to repeal DOMA called the Respect for Marriage Act. The bill had 91 original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and was supported by Clinton, Barr, and several legislators who voted for DOMA. Congressman Barney Frank and John Berry, head of the Office of Personnel Management, did not support that effort, stating that `` the backbone is not there '' in Congress. Frank and Berry suggested DOMA could be overturned more quickly through lawsuits such as Gill v. Office of Personnel Management filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders ( GLAD ). Following Holder 's announcement that the Obama Administration would no longer defend DOMA Section 3 in court, on March 16, 2011, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate again and Nadler introduced it in the House. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10 -- 8 in favor of advancing the bill to the Senate floor, but observers believed it would not gain the 60 votes needed to end debate and bring it to a vote. After the Supreme Court struck down DOMA Section 3 on June 26, 2013, Feinstein and Nadler reintroduced the Respect for Marriage Act as S. 1236 and H.R. 2523. Challenges to Section 3 in federal Court Numerous plaintiffs have challenged DOMA. Prior to 2009, all federal courts upheld DOMA in its entirety. Later cases focused on Section 3 's definition of marriage. The courts, using different standards, have all found Section 3 unconstitutional. Requests for the Supreme Court to hear appeals were filed in five cases, listed below ( with Supreme Court docket numbers ) : Gill v. Office of Personnel Management ( 12 - 13 as BLAG v. Gill ) Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services ( 12 - 15 as Dept. of HHS v. Massachusetts, 12 - 97 ) Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management ( 12 - 16 OPM v. Golinski ) Windsor v. United States ( 12 - 63 ) Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management ( 12 - 231 ) Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management is a challenge to Section 3 of DOMA in federal court based on a judicial employee 's attempt to receive spousal health benefits for her wife. In 2008, Karen Golinski, a 19 - year employee of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, applied for health benefits for her wife. When the application was denied, she filed a complaint under the Ninth Circuit 's Employment Dispute Resolution Plan. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, in his administrative capacity, ruled in 2009 that she was entitled to spousal health benefits, but the Office of Personnel Management ( OPM ) announced that it would not comply with the ruling. On March 17, 2011, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White dismissed the suit on procedural grounds but invited Golinski to amend her suit to argue the unconstitutionality of DOMA Section 3, which she did on April 14. Following the Attorney General 's decision to no longer defend DOMA, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group ( BLAG ), an arm of the House of Representatives, took up the defense. Former United States Solicitor General Paul Clement filed, on BLAG 's behalf, a motion to dismiss raising arguments previously avoided by the Department of Justice : that DOMA 's definition of marriage is valid `` because only a man and a woman can beget a child together, and because historical experience has shown that a family consisting of a married father and mother is an effective social structure for raising children. '' On July 1, 2011, the DOJ filed a brief in support of Golinski 's suit, in which it detailed for the first time its case for heightened scrutiny based on `` a significant history of purposeful discrimination against gay and lesbian people, by governmental as well as private entities '' and its arguments that DOMA Section 3 fails to meet that standard. On February 22, 2012, White ruled for Golinski, finding DOMA `` violates her right to equal protection of the law under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. '' He wrote that Section 3 of DOMA could not pass the `` heightened scrutiny '' or the `` rational basis '' test. He wrote, The Court finds that neither Congress ' claimed legislative justifications nor any of the proposed reasons proffered by BLAG constitute bases rationally related to any of the alleged governmental interests. Further, after concluding that neither the law nor the record can sustain any of the interests suggested, the Court, having tried on its own, can not conceive of any additional interests that DOMA might further. While the case was on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, on July 3, 2012, the DOJ asked the Supreme Court to review the case before the Ninth Circuit decides it so it can be heard together with two other cases in which DOMA Section 3 was held unconstitutional, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. The Supreme Court chose to hear Windsor instead of these cases, and following the Supreme Court decision in Windsor the Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal in Golinski with the consent of all parties on July 23. Gill and Massachusetts On March 3, 2009, GLAD filed a federal court challenge, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, based on the Equal Protection Clause and the federal government 's consistent deference to each state 's definition of marriage prior to the enactment of DOMA. The case questioned only the DOMA provision that the federal government defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. On May 6, 2010, Judge Joseph L. Tauro heard arguments in the U.S. District Court in Boston. On July 8, 2009, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a suit, Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, challenging the constitutionality of DOMA. The suit claims that Congress `` overstepped its authority, undermined states ' efforts to recognize marriages between same - sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people. '' Tauro, the judge also handling Gill, heard arguments on May 26, 2010. On July 8, 2010, Tauro issued his rulings in both Gill and Massachusetts, granting summary judgment for the plaintiffs in both cases. He found in Gill that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In Massachusetts he held that the same section of DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment and falls outside Congress ' authority under the Spending Clause of the Constitution. Those decisions were stayed after the DOJ filed an appeal on October 12, 2010. On November 3, 2011, 133 House Democrats filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in Gill and Massachusetts, asserting their belief that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional. Included among the members of Congress signing the brief were 14 members who had voted for the bill in 1996. Seventy major employers also filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs. A three - judge panel heard arguments in the case on April 4, 2012, during which the DOJ for the first time took the position that it could not defend Section 3 of DOMA under any level of scrutiny. On May 31, 2012, the panel unanimously affirmed Tauro 's ruling, finding Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. On June 29, BLAG filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court. The DOJ did so on July 3, while asking the Supreme Court to review Golinski as well. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a response to both petitions adding the Spending Clause and Tenth Amendment issues as questions presented. The Supreme Court denied these petitions on June 27, 2013, following its decision in Windsor. United States v. Windsor Main article : United States v. Windsor On November 9, 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison filed United States v. Windsor in New York on behalf of a surviving same - sex spouse whose inheritance from her deceased spouse had been subject to federal taxation as if they were unmarried. New York is part of the Second Circuit, where no precedent exists for the standard of review to be followed in sexual - orientation discrimination cases. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a brief supporting Windsor 's claim on July 26, 2011. Same - sex couple celebrating legal victory at San Francisco Pride 2013 On June 6, 2012, Judge Barbara Jones ruled that based on rational basis review Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional and ordered the requested tax refund be paid to Windsor. The plaintiff commented, `` It 's thrilling to have a court finally recognize how unfair it is for the government to have treated us as though we were strangers. '' Windsor 's attorneys filed a petition of certiorari with the Supreme Court on July 16, asking for the case to be considered without waiting for the Second Circuit 's review. On October 18, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court 's ruling that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional. According to an ACLU press release, this ruling was `` the first federal appeals court decision to decide that government discrimination against gay people gets a more exacting level of judicial review '' In an opinion authored by Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals stated : Our straightforward legal analysis sidesteps the fair point that same - sex marriage is unknown to history and tradition, but law ( federal or state ) is not concerned with holy matrimony. Government deals with marriage as a civil status -- however fundamental -- and New York has elected to extend that status to same - sex couples. On December 7, 2012, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Oral arguments were heard on March 27, 2013. In a 5 -- 4 decision on June 26, 2013, the Court ruled Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional, declaring it `` a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment. '' On July 18, 2013, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group ( BLAG ), which had mounted a defense of Section 3 when the administration declined to, acknowledged that in Windsor `` ( t ) he Supreme Court recently resolved the issue of DOMA Section 3 's constitutionality '' and said `` it no longer will defend that statute. '' Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management is a case filed by GLAD in Connecticut on behalf of same - sex couples in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, in which GLAD repeats the arguments it made in Gill. On July 31, 2012, Judge Vanessa Bryant ruled that `` having considered the purported rational bases proffered by both BLAG and Congress and concluded that such objectives bear no rational relationship to Section 3 of DOMA as a legislative scheme, the Court finds that that no conceivable rational basis exists for the provision. The provision therefore violates the equal protection principles incorporated in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. '' She held that `` laws that classify people based on sexual orientation should be subject to heightened scrutiny by courts '' but determined Section 3 of DOMA `` fails to pass constitutional muster under even the most deferential level of judicial scrutiny. '' The case is currently on appeal to the Second Circuit, and on August 21, 2012, Pedersen asked the Supreme Court to review the case before the Second Circuit decides it so it can be heard together with Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. The Supreme Court denied these petitions on June 27, 2013, following its decision in Windsor. Other cases Other cases that challenged DOMA include : Dragovich v. Department of the Treasury, No. 10 - 1564 ( N.D. Cal. ), a class action in which California same - sex couples seek equal access to California 's long - term care insurance program for public employees and their families. U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken on May 24, 2012, found Section 3 of DOMA and certain IRS regulations violated the plaintiffs ' equal protection rights. Hara v. Office of Personnel Management, No. 09 - 3134 ( Fed. Cir. ) Hara is one of the plaintiffs in Gill. Torres - Barragan v. Holder, No. 10 - 55768 ( 9th Cir. ) An immigration - related DOMA challenge in which the district court rejected the constitutional challenges. Cozen O'Connor v. Tobits, No. 11 - 00045 - CDJ, Pennsylvania, in which two parties dispute who inherits the proceeds of a law firm 's profit - sharing plan under ERISA and DOMA. The DOJ filed a brief arguing the unconstitutionality of DOMA. Following the decision in Windsor, Judge C. Darnell Jones II ruled that the widow qualified as the deceased 's spouse since Illinois, their state of domicile, recognized them as spouses in a civil union as defined by Illinois. The deceased 's parents dropped their appeal on August 30. On April 5, 2012, Chief Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the federal court clerk to reimburse Christopher Nathan, a court employee, for the costs of health insurance coverage for his same - sex spouse comparable to that denied him by Section 3 of DOMA. On November 21, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference affirmed Ware 's decision and ordered the court to determine the amount due Nathan and pay him within 10 days. Military and Veterans cases On October 13, 2011, Carmen Cardona, a U.S. Navy veteran, filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims seeking disability benefits for her wife that the Veterans Administration and the Board of Veterans Appeals had denied. Cardona is represented by the Yale Law School Legal Services Clinic. At the request of BLAG, which is defending the government 's action, and over Cardona 's objections, the court postponed oral argument in Cardona v. Shinseki pending the Supreme Court 's disposition of writs of certiorari in other DOMA cases. On October 27, 2011, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) brought suit in federal court on behalf of several military servicemembers and veterans in same - sex marriages. In a November 21 filing in the case of McLaughlin v. Panetta, they wrote, `` Any claim that DOMA, as applied to military spousal benefits, survives rational basis review is strained because paying unequal benefits to service members runs directly counter to the military values of uniformity, fairness and unit cohesion. '' The benefits at issue include medical and dental benefits, basic housing and transportation allowances, family separation benefits, visitation rights in military hospitals, and survivor benefit plans. The case was assigned to Judge Richard G. Stearns. One of the plaintiffs in the case, lesbian Charlie Morgan, who was undergoing chemotherapy, met with an assistant to Boehner on February 9, 2012, to ask him to consider not defending DOMA. The case is on hold at the request of both sides in anticipation of the outcome of two other First Circuit cases on appeal, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. On February 17, the DOJ announced it could not defend the constitutionality of the statutes challenged in the case. In May 2012, the parties filed briefs arguing whether BLAG has a right to intervene. On June 27, Stearns asked the parties to explain by July 18 why given the decision in Windsor he should not find for the plaintiffs. On July 18, BLAG 's response acknowledged that `` ( t ) he Supreme Court recently resolved the issue of DOMA Section 3 's constitutionality '' and asked to be allowed to withdraw from the case. It took no position on the two statutes at issue in the case, which define a `` spouse '' as `` a person of the opposite sex '', except to say that `` the question of whether ( that definition ) is constitutional remains open ''. Tracey Cooper - Harris, an Army veteran from California, sued the Veterans Administration and the DOJ in federal court on February 1, 2012, asking for her wife to receive the benefits normally granted to spouses of disabled veterans. BLAG sought a delay in Cooper - Harris v. United States pending the resolution of Golinski, which the attorneys for Cooper - Harris, the Southern Poverty Law Center, opposed. The court denied BLAG 's motion on August 4. In February 2013, Judge Consuelo Marshall rejected the DOJ 's argument that the case could only be heard by the Board of Veterans ' Appeals and allowed the case to proceed. BLAG asked to withdraw from the lawsuit on July 22. Bankruptcy Court In May 2011, DOMA - based challenges by the Department of Justice to joint petitions for bankruptcy by married same - sex couples were denied in two cases, one in the Southern District of New York on May 4 and one in the Eastern District of California on May 31. Both rulings stressed practical considerations and avoided ruling on DOMA. On June 13, 2011, 20 of the 25 judges of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California signed an opinion in the case in re Balas and Morales that found that a same - sex married couple filing for bankruptcy `` have made their case persuasively that DOMA deprives them of the equal protection of the law to which they are entitled. '' The decision found DOMA Section 3 unconstitutional and dismissed BLAG 's objections to the joint filing : Although individual members of Congress have every right to express their views and the views of their constituents with respect to their religious beliefs and principles and their personal standards of who may marry whom, this court can not conclude that Congress is entitled to solemnize such views in the laws of this nation in disregard of the views, legal status and living arrangements of a significant segment of our citizenry that includes the Debtors in this case. To do so violates the Debtors ' right to equal protection of those laws embodied in the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. This court can not conclude from the evidence or the record in this case that any valid governmental interest is advanced by DOMA as applied to the Debtors. A spokesman for House Speaker Boehner said BLAG would not appeal the ruling, On July 7, 2011, the DOJ announced that after consultation with BLAG it would no longer raise objections to `` bankruptcy petitions filed jointly by same - sex couples who are married under state law ''. Immigration cases Bi-national same - sex couples were kept from legally living in the United States by DOMA 's Section 3, which prevented one spouse from sponsoring the other for a green card. Following some uncertainty after the Obama Administration determined Section 3 to be unconstitutional, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) reaffirmed its policy of denying such applications. With respect to obtaining a visitor 's visa, Bureau rules treated bi-national same - sex spouses the same as bi-national opposite - sex unmarried partners under the classification `` cohabiting partners ''. Tim Coco and Genesio J. Oliveira, a same - sex couple married in Massachusetts in 2005, successfully challenged this policy and developed a model since followed by other immigration activists. The U.S. refused to recognize their marriage, and in 2007 Oliveira, a Brazilian national, accepted `` voluntary departure '' and returned to Brazil. They conducted a national press campaign A Boston Globe editorial commented, `` Great strides toward equality for gays have been made in this country, but the woeful fate of Tim Coco and Genesio Oliveira shows that thousands of same - sex couples, even in Massachusetts, still are n't really full citizens. '' The editorial gained the attention of Senator John F. Kerry, who first lobbied Attorney General Eric Holder without success. He then gained the support of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who granted Oliveira humanitarian parole, enabling the couple to reunite in the U.S. in June 2010. Humanitarian parole is granted on a case - by - case basis at the Secretary 's discretion. On September 28, 2011, in Lui v. Holder, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson rejected a challenge to DOMA, citing Adams v. Howerton ( 1982 ). The plaintiffs in that case had unsuccessfully challenged the denial of immediate relative status to the same - sex spouse of an American citizen. Early in 2012, two bi-national same - sex couples were granted `` deferred action '' status, suspending deportation proceedings against the non-U.S. citizen for a year. A similar Texas couple had a deportation case dismissed in March 2012, leaving the non-citizen spouse unable to work legally in the United States but no longer subject to the threat of deportation. On January 5, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago decided the suit of a same - sex binational couple. Demos Revelis and Marcel Maas, married in Iowa in 2010, sought to prevent the USCIS from applying Section 3 of DOMA to Revelis 's application for a permanent residence visa for Maas and, in the court 's words, `` that their petition be reviewed and decided on the same basis as other married couples. '' Judge Harry D. Leinenweber, a Reagan appointee, denied the government 's motion to dismiss. BLAG has argued for the suit to be dismissed. In July the court stayed proceedings until mid-October because the USCIS was considering denying the plaintiffs ' request on grounds unrelated to DOMA. On April 2, 2012, five bi-national same - sex couples represented by Immigration Equality and Paul, Weiss filed a lawsuit, Blesch v. Holder, in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, claiming that Section 3 of DOMA violated their equal protection rights by denying the U.S. citizen in the relationship the same rights in the green card application process granted a U.S. citizen who is in a relationship of partners of the opposite sex. On July 25, Chief Judge Carol Bagley Amon stayed the case pending the resolution of Windsor by the Second Circuit. Immigration rights advocate Lavi Soloway reported on June 19, 2012, that the Board of Immigration Appeals ( BIA ) had in four cases responded to green card denials on the part of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) by asking the USCIS to document the marital status of the same - sex couples and determine whether the foreign national would qualify for a green card in the absence of DOMA Section 3. He said the BIA is `` essentially setting the stage for being able to approve the petitions in a post-DOMA universe. '' On April 19, 2013, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall ordered that a suit brought in July 2012 by Jane DeLeon, a Philippine citizen, and her spouse, Irma Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, could proceed as a class action. The plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, contended that DeLeon was denied a residency waiver because of DOMA Section 3. On June 28, 2013, the USCIS notified U.S. citizen Julian Marsh that it had approved the green card petition for his Bulgarian husband Traian Popov. Both are residents of Florida. On July 3, the USCIS office in Centennial, Colorado, granted Cathy Davis, a citizen of Ireland, a green card based on her marriage to U.S. citizen Catriona Dowling. Tribunals In 2009, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt declared DOMA unconstitutional in in re Levenson, an employment dispute resolution tribunal case, where the federal government refused to grant spousal benefits to Tony Sears, the husband of deputy federal public defender Brad Levenson. As an employee of the federal judiciary, Levenson is prohibited from suing his employer in federal court. Rather, employment disputes are handled at employment dispute resolution tribunals in which a federal judge hears the dispute in their capacity as a dispute resolution official. Challenges to Section 2 in federal Court Section 2 of DOMA states to give legal relief to any state from recognizing same - sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. Various federal lawsuits, some filed alongside challenges to Section 3, have challenged Section 2. In re Kandu, a same - sex couple in the state of Washington, who had married in Canada, attempted to file a joint bankruptcy petition, but were not allowed to do so. Wilson v. Ake, an unsuccessful attempt by a Florida same - sex couple, married in Massachusetts, to have their marriage license accepted in Florida. Smelt v. Orange County and Smelt v. United States, In February 2004, Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer sued Orange County, California, in federal court for refusing to issue them a marriage license. The district court ruled that the couple did not have standing to challenge Section 2 of DOMA and rejected their challenge to the constitutionality of Section 3. On May 5, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed the suit, and on October 10 the United States Supreme Court refused to consider the couple 's appeal. On March 9, 2009, the same couple, having legally married in California, filed Smelt v. United States, challenging the constitutionality of DOMA and California 's Proposition 8. District Judge David O. Carter dismissed the case on August 24, because the couple had not applied for and been denied any federal benefit and therefore lacked `` an injury in fact. '' Bishop v. United States, two lesbian couples in Oklahoma, one of which couples sought a marriage license and the other to have the state recognize either their Canadian marriage or their Vermont civil union. The court stayed consideration of the case pending the outcome of Windsor. Later it ruled the couple challenging Section 2 did not have standing, but ruled Oklahoma 's same - sex marriage ban unconstitutional under Bishop v. Oklahoma. Obergefell v. Hodges On June 26, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the 14th Amendment requires all U.S. state laws to recognize same - sex marriages. This left Section 2 of DOMA as superseded and unenforceable. See also LGBT rights in the United States Marriage Protection Act Same - sex marriage in the United States Same - sex unions in the United States Notes Jump up ^ For a review of the play see Barnes, Clive ( December 10, 1971 ). `` ' Nightride ' -- No Apologies and No Regrets ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2012. Jump up ^ For the theological background beginning in 1967, see Fiske, Edward B. ( December 3, 1967 ). `` Views on Homosexuals ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2012. Jump up ^ The Commonwealth also filed its own petition in Massachusetts in case the court found the response was not the proper way to raise those issues. Jump up ^ The court held that in enacting Section 2 of DOMA `` Congress ' actions are an appropriate exercise of its power to regulate conflicts between the laws of two different States '' under the Full Faith and Credit Clause. References ^ Jump up to : Supreme Court of the United States ( June 26, 2015 ). `` United States v. Windsor '' ( PDF ). supremecourt.gov. Jump up ^ Schott, Webster ( November 12, 1967 ). `` Civil Rights and the Homosexual : A 4 - Million Minority Asks for Equal Rights ''. The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Homosexual Wins Fight to Take Bar Examination in Minnesota ''. The New York Times. January 7, 1973. Retrieved February 6, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Geidner, Chris ( May 4, 2011 ). `` Domestic Disturbance ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Barton, Lee ( pseudonym ) ( January 23, 1973 ). `` Why Do Homosexual Playwrights Hide their Homosexuality ? ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Sheppard, Nathaniel ( September 17, 1979 ). `` Panel bids Episcopalians Bar Homosexual priests ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Gutis, Philip S. ( November 5, 1989 ). `` Small Steps Toward Acceptance Renew Debate on Gay Marriage ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Georgia Denies Gay Lawyer a Job ''. The New York Times. October 6, 1991. Retrieved February 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Lewin, Tamar ( October 21, 1993 ). `` Lutherans Asked to Decide On Blessing of Gay Unions ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Lehmann - Haupt, Christopher ( November 11, 1993 ). `` A Strong Gay Dissent On Public Spectacles ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2012. Jump up ^ The case was originally Baehr v. Lewin. `` State of Hawaii Report of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and the Law, Chapter 2 Footnotes ''. State of Hawaii. 1995. Archived from the original on September 29, 2000. Retrieved January 18, 2009. Jump up ^ United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary ( July 9, 1996 ). `` Report 104 - 664 : Defense of Marriage Act '' ( PDF ). pp. 4 -- 11. Retrieved August 15, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Defense of Marriage Act ''. United States Government Printing Office. September 21, 1996. Retrieved January 18, 2009. ^ Jump up to : Dunlap, David W. ( May 9, 1996 ). `` Congressional Bills Withhold Sanction of Same - Sex Unions ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Goodwin, Liz ( March 27, 2013 ). `` Lawmakers ' ' moral disapproval ' of gay people in 1996 could doom DOMA law in Supreme Court ''. Yahoo ! News. Retrieved April 23, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Defense Of Marriage Act 5 / 96 H.R. 3396 Summary / Analysis ''. Lectric Law Library. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Republican Party Platform of 1996 ''. American Presidency Project. August 12, 1996. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Democratic Party Platform of 1996 ''. American Presidency Project. August 26, 1996. Retrieved December 4, 2017. Jump up ^ Moss, J. Jennings ( June 25, 1996 ). `` Bill Clinton interview ''. The Advocate. Archived from the original on 2005 - 02 - 08. Archived by Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Letter from Bill Clinton ''. Queer Resources Directory. August 7, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Final vote results for roll call 316 ''. United States House of Representatives. July 12, 1996. Retrieved January 18, 2009. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 13, 2011 ). `` Marriage Wars ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Jump up ^ `` On Passage of the Bill ( H.R. 3396 ) ''. United States Senate. September 10, 1996. Retrieved January 18, 2009. ^ Jump up to : Geidner, Chris ( September 14, 2011 ). `` Double Defeat ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 14, 2011 ). `` Marriage Wars ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ http://www.qrd.org/qrd/usa/federal/doma/1996/clinton.letter-08.07.96 Jump up ^ Socarides, Richard ( March 8, 2013 ). `` Why Bill Clinton Signed the Defense of Marriage Act. '' The New Yorker ^ Jump up to : Baker, Peter ( March 25, 2013 ). `` Now in Defense of Gay Marriage, Bill Clinton ''. The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2013. Jump up ^ Clinton, Bill ( March 7, 2013 ). `` It 's time to overturn DOMA. '' The Washington Post ^ Jump up to : Geidner, Chris ( September 29, 2011 ). `` Becoming Law ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ `` David Perry interviews Ambassador James C. Hormel on his new book. '' Youtube.com Jump up ^ `` Clinton says gays overly critical of DADT ; Memoir omits DOMA fight, Mixner, many out gay appointees ''. Washington Blade. June 25, 2004. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Bill Clinton on Prop 8 : `` It 's Unfair and It 's Wrong. '' Queerty. Jump up ^ Galloway, Jim ( July 14, 2009 ). `` Bill Clinton drops opposition to same - sex marriage ''. Atlanta Journal - Constitution. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Jump up ^ Tracey, Michael ( July 14, 2009 ). `` Bill Clinton Backs Same - Sex Marriage ''. The Nation. Jump up ^ `` Bill Clinton 's Justifications for Signing DOMA ''. New York Magazine. February 26, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Jump up ^ Johnson, Chris ( October 25, 2015 ). `` Gay activists unhappy with Clinton remarks on DOMA ''. Washington Blade. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Jump up ^ Clinton, Bill. `` It 's Time to Overturn DOMA, '' washingtonpost.com Archived September 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine., 7 March 2013, accessed 27 March 2013. Jump up ^ Baker, Peter. `` Now in Defense of Gay Marriage, Bill Clinton ''. The New York Times, 25 March 2013, accessed 27 March 2013. Jump up ^ Birch, Elizabeth ( March 12, 2013 ). `` President Clinton is wrong about the history of DOMA ''. AMERICAblog News. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( September 29, 2011 ). `` Becoming Law ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved October 28, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Same - sex marriages in Hawaii - 1997 : Legislative activity ''. ReligiousTolerance.org. Retrieved Dec 26, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Homosexual ( same - sex ) marriage in Alaska '' Robinson, B.A. Religioustolerance.org. 2002. ( last update 2014 - OCT - 18 ). accessed 2015 - DEC - 26. ^ Jump up to : `` OGC - 97 - 16 : Defense of Marriage Act '' ( PDF ). General Accounting Office. January 31, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ `` GAO - 04 - 353R Defense of Marriage Act : Update to Prior Report '' ( PDF ). General Accounting Office. January 23, 2004. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Providing benefits to same - sex spouses of employees : Legal issues, best practices ''. ABA Journal. America Bar Association ( December 2011 ). Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Immigration and the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) : A Q&A Fact Check ''. Immigration Policy Center. August 18, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ Heller, Marc ( September 21, 2011 ). `` Gillibrand Urges Equal Benefits ''. Daily Courier - Observer. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ Dao, James ( July 16, 2011 ). `` Same - Sex Marriage Faces Military Limits ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Democratic Party Platform of 2000 ''. American Presidency Project. July 31, 2000. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Democratic Party Platform of 1996 ''. American Presidency Project. August 14, 2000. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Bush calls for ban on same - sex marriages ''. CNN. February 25, 2004. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Hoffecker, Leslie ( January 17, 2005 ). `` Bush Wo n't Lobby For Amendment ''. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Barack Obama on LGBT Rights '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on December 17, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Open Letter from Barack Obama Concerning LGBT Equality ''. ^ Jump up to : `` Obama Admin Moves To Dismiss Defense Of Marriage Act Challenge ''. Huffington Post. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 12, 2009. Jump up ^ Solmonese, Joe ( June 15, 2009 ). `` Open Letter to President Obama '' ( PDF ). Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved September 7, 2009. ^ Jump up to : Statement of the Attorney General on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act, February 23, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Letter from the Attorney General to Congress on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act ''. February 23, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Letter of Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, to United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit '' ( PDF ). GLAD. February 24, 2011. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on July 24, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011. ^ Jump up to : Geidner, Chris ( July 1, 2011 ). `` DOJ : Court Should Not Dismiss Karen Golinski 's Health Benefits Claim, Should Instead Find DOMA Unconstitutional ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011. Jump up ^ `` DOJ Support of Petition for En Banc Review '' ( PDF ). GLAD. July 7, 2011. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on August 3, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( June 11, 2012 ). `` Former AGs Meese, Ashcroft Call Obama Move on DOMA ' Extreme ' in Appeals Court Filing ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Boehner : House Will Defend DOMA ; Courts, Not Obama, Should Decide ''. National Public Radio. March 4, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Boehner Launches Effort to Defend Gay Marriage Ban ''. FOX News. March 4, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Sonmez, Felicia ( March 9, 2011 ). `` House to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court ''. The Washington Post. Jump up ^ Todd, Ross ( April 18, 2012 ). `` King & Spalding 's Clement to Fight Against Same - Sex Marriage ''. AmLawDaily. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( April 18, 2011 ). `` House Leadership Seeks to Intervene in DOMA Case ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011. Jump up ^ Windsor v. United States, Unopposed Motion of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives to Intervene for a Limited Purpose Archived September 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine... Retrieved April 19, 2011. Jump up ^ Berman, Russell ; Strauss, Daniel ( April 25, 2011 ). `` GOP pushes on with marriage act defense after law firm backs out ''. The Hill. Washington, D.C. ISSN 1521 - 1568. OCLC 31153202. Retrieved November 13, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Price tag on House defense of DOMA : $500 k ''. MSNBC. April 20, 2011. Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2011. Jump up ^ Sonmez, Felicia ( October 4, 2011 ). `` House raises salary cap for DOMA lawyer to $1.5 million ''. The Washington Post. Jump up ^ Schwartz, John ( June 14, 2011 ). `` A California Bankruptcy Court Rejects U.S. Law Barring Same - Sex Marriage ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2012. Jump up ^ Bernie Becker ( September 15, 2009 ). `` House Dems Take Aim at Marriage Law ''. The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2010. Jump up ^ Eleveld, Kerry ( September 15, 2009 ). `` Respect for Marriage Act Debuts ''. The Advocate. Retrieved September 15, 2009. Jump up ^ `` The Respect for Marriage Act Garners Support of President Clinton and Former Rep. Bob Barr, DOMA 's Original Author '' ( Press release ). United States House of Representatives. September 15, 2009. Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Frank Will Not Support DOMA Repeal ''. EDGE Boston. September 14, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2011. Jump up ^ Johnson, Chris ( September 28, 2009 ). `` Berry -- ENDA should be LGBT priority ''. Washington Blade. Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009. Jump up ^ S. 598 Jump up ^ H.R. 1116 Jump up ^ `` Senate panel OKs repeal of Defense of Marriage Act ''. USA Today. Associated Press. November 10, 2011. Jump up ^ Pear, Robert ( March 12, 2009 ). `` Obama on Spot Over a Benefit to Gay Couples ''. The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2011. Jump up ^ Levine, Dan ( March 16, 2011 ). `` Lesbian U.S. employee set back in benefits fight ''. Reuters. Retrieved March 17, 2011. Jump up ^ Golinski v. OPM, Second Amended Complaint. April 14, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011 Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( June 10, 2011 ). `` House GOP Leadership Defends ' Traditional ' Marriage From Being ' Radically Redefined ' ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011. Jump up ^ Golinski v. OPM, Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives ' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff 's Second Amended Complaint Archived May 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine... June 3, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2012. Jump up ^ Golinski v. OPM, Defendants ' Brief in Opposition to Motions to Dismiss Archived May 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine... July 1, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( February 22, 2012 ). `` DOMA 's Federal Definition of Marriage Unconstitutional, Judge Rules in Golinski Case ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Geidner, Chris ( July 3, 2012 ). `` DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Take Two DOMA Cases, Maintains Law Is Unconstitutional ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Order : Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management ''. Lambda Legal. Retrieved July 23, 2013. Jump up ^ Goodnough, Abby ; Zezima, Katie ( March 2, 2009 ). `` Suit Seeks to Force Government to Extend Benefits to Same - Sex Couples ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2009. Jump up ^ `` '' DOMA '' Means Federal Discrimination Against Married Same - Sex Couples ``. GLAD. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Jump up ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. ( May 6, 2010 ). `` Marriage Law Is Challenged as Equaling Discrimination ''. The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2010. Jump up ^ Finucane, Martin ( July 8, 2009 ). `` Mass. challenges federal Defense of Marriage Act ''. Boston Globe. Retrieved November 6, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Massachusetts challenges Marriage Act ''. UPI. May 26, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2013. Jump up ^ Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, 699 F. Supp. 2d 374 ( D. Mass. 2010 ). Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, 698 F. Supp. 2d 234 ( D. Mass. 2010 ). Retrieved February 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 8, 2010 ). `` Federal Court Rules DOMA Sec. 3 Violates Equal Protection ''. Archived from the original on July 12, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010. Jump up ^ DOMA decisions released Bay Windows. July 8, 2010. Jump up ^ Lavoie, Denise ( October 12, 2010 ). `` Feds Appeal Mass Rulings against U.S. Marriage Law ''. Boston Globe. Retrieved October 13, 2010. ^ Jump up to : Mackenzie Weinger ( November 3, 2011 ). `` DOMA opposed by 133 House Democrats ''. Politico. Retrieved November 3, 2011. Jump up ^ Reilly, Peter J. ( November 4, 2011 ). `` Seventy Major Employers Line Up Against DOMA ''. Forbes. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( April 4, 2012 ). `` Federal Appeals Judges Consider Whether DOMA Is Constitutional in Historic Hearing in Boston ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012. Jump up ^ Jeffrey, Don ; Dolmetsch, Chris ( May 31, 2012 ). `` Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional, Appeals Court Says ''. Bloomberg. Retrieved July 5, 2012. Jump up ^ Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services Archived June 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., No. 10 - 2204, slip op. ( May 31, 2012 ). Jump up ^ Johnson, Chris ( June 20, 2012 ). `` Boehner appeals DOMA cases to Supreme Court ''. Washington Blade. Retrieved June 29, 2012. Jump up ^ Schwartz, John ( November 8, 2010 ). `` Gay Couples to Sue Over U.S. Marriage Law ''. The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2011. Jump up ^ Andrew M. Harris ( February 28, 2011 ). `` Widow 's $363,000 Tax Bill Led to Obama Shift on Marriage Act ''. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved July 31, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 26, 2011 ). `` New York Attorney General Takes Edith Windsor 's Side in DOMA Challenge ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( June 6, 2012 ). `` Another Federal Judge Finds DOMA Marriage Definition Unconstitutional, Now in Widow 's Case ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012. Jump up ^ Snow, Justin ( July 16, 2012 ). `` Widow Petitions DOMA Case to the Supreme Court ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012. Jump up ^ Baynes, Terry ( October 18, 2012 ). `` Appeals court rules against Defense of Marriage Act ''. Reuters. Retrieved October 18, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Windsor v. USA '' ( PDF ). United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on January 8, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Federal Appeals Court Declares `` Defense of Marriage Act '' Unconstitutional ``. ACLU Press Release. Retrieved July 25, 2013. Jump up ^ Weiss, Debra Cassens ( 18 October 2012 ). `` 2nd Circuit Rules for Surviving Gay Spouse, Says DOMA Violates Equal Protection Clause ''. ABA Journal. Retrieved 18 October 2012. Jump up ^ Stempel, Jonathan ( January 7, 2013 ). `` Supreme Court to hear same - sex marriage cases in late March ''. Reuters. Retrieved January 7, 2013. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 18, 2013 ). `` House Republicans Cave On Marriage Fight ''. BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 18, 2013. Jump up ^ Bolcer, Julie ( 31 July 2012 ). `` Judge Rules DOMA Unconstitutional in Pedersen Case ''. Retrieved 31 July 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( 31 July 2012 ). `` Federal Trial Court In Connecticut Strikes Down DOMA 's Marriage Definition ''. BuzzFeed Politics. Retrieved 31 July 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Ryan J. ( 31 July 2012 ). `` Bush Appointee Rules DOMA Unconstitutional ''. Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 31 July 2012. Jump up ^ Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management, Petition for Certiorari Before Judgment Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine... Retrieved August 21, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Pending cases where the Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged ''. February 28, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( May 25, 2012 ). `` Federal Judge Rules DOMA, Tax Code Force Unconstitutional Treatment For Same - Sex Couples ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Torres - Barragan v. Holder ''. Civilo Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. University of Michigan Law School. Retrieved January 14, 2013. Jump up ^ Passarella, Gina ( January 9, 2012 ). `` U.S. Justice Department argues that Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional ''. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 12, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 29, 2013 ). `` Federal Judge Says DOMA Ruling Changes Private Companies ' Retirement Plans ''. BuzzFeed. Retrieved August 2, 2013. Jump up ^ Packel, Dan ( August 30, 2013 ). `` Late Cozen Atty 's Family Drops Same - Sex Benefits Fight ''. Law 360. Retrieved August 31, 2013. Jump up ^ Egelko, Bob ( April 5, 2012 ). `` Same - sex benefits denial is ruled discriminatory ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2012. Jump up ^ Egelko, Bob ( November 25, 2012 ). `` Same - sex case ruling favors gay employee ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 26, 2012. Jump up ^ Dao, James ( 12 October 2011 ). `` Denied Veterans Benefits Over Same - Sex Marriage, Ex-Sailor Challenges Law ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2012. Jump up ^ `` Cardona v. Shinseki ''. Veterans Legal Services Clinic. Yale Law School. Retrieved 3 October 2012. Jump up ^ Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims : Number : 11 - 3083, accessed November 26, 2012 Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( November 23, 2011 ). `` SLDN Takes Aim at DOMA ''. Metro Weekly. Retrieved February 11, 2012. Jump up ^ Stone, Andrea ( February 9, 2012 ). `` Charlie Morgan, Lesbian Guardsman With Cancer, Meets John Boehner Staffer To Push DOMA Repeal ''. Huffington Post. Retrieved February 11, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( February 16, 2012 ). `` SLDN, DOJ Agree to 60 - Day Delay in Case Challenging Gay Servicemembers ' Spousal Benefits ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( February 17, 2012 ). `` DOJ Wo n't Defend Laws Preventing Equal Treatment for Servicemembers With Same - Sex Spouses ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved February 17, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Boehner moves to defend anti-gay DOMA in military case ''. Wisconsin Gazette. May 4, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 17, 2013 ). `` House Republicans Face Decision On Fighting Gay Veterans ' Spousal Benefits ''. BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 17, 2013. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 18, 2013 ). `` House Republicans Cave On Marriage Fight ''. BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 18, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Pasadena same - sex couple sues VA over benefits ''. Pasadena Sun. February 1, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012. Jump up ^ Snow, Justin ( August 3, 2012 ). `` Court Denies Motion To Stay DOMA Case Proceedings ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Tracey Cooper - Harris, Gay California Veteran, Moves Forward With DOMA Lawsuit ''. Huffington Post. February 25, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013. Jump up ^ Application to Withdraw, accessed July 23, 2013 Jump up ^ `` Bankruptcy Judge Bypasses DOMA to Allow Joint Bankruptcy Filing by Same - Sex Spouses ''. American Bankruptcy Institute. June 3, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011. Jump up ^ In re Somers and Caggiano Archived September 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., 10 - 38296, slip op. ( Bky. S.D.N.Y. May 4, 2011 ). Retrieved June 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( June 13, 2011 ). `` Bankruptcy Court : DOMA Unconstitutionally Limits Same - Sex Married Couples From Joint Bankruptcy Filing ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Bankruptcy Court rules section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional ''. SDGLN. June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011. Jump up ^ Schwartz, John ( June 14, 2011 ). `` A California Bankruptcy Court Rejects U.S. Law Barring Same - Sex Marriage ''. The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( July 7, 2011 ). `` U.S. Trustee Withdraws Appeal of Gay Couple 's Bankruptcy Court DOMA Victory ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2011. Jump up ^ Wernick, Allan ( June 10, 2009 ). `` Vermont Senator urges same - sex marriages OK for ' immigrant spouses ' ''. New York Daily News. Retrieved December 19, 2011. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( March 30, 2011 ). `` Immigration Official : ' The Hold Is Over ' ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011. Jump up ^ `` B2 Classification for Cohabiting Partners ''. Travel.state.gov. Archived from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011. Jump up ^ Preston, Julia ( May 8, 2011 ). `` Justice Dept. to Continue Policy Against Same - Sex Marriage ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Mass. ad exec fights two battles with ads ''. AdWeek. April 29, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Reunite this family ''. Boston Globe. August 27, 2007. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2011. Jump up ^ Trujillo, Meilssa ( March 20, 2009 ). `` Kerry Seeks Asylum For Gay Brazilian Wed In Mass ''. Huffington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2011. Jump up ^ Sacchetti, Maria ( June 4, 2010 ). `` Gay couple get a boost in winning bid to reunite ''. Boston Globe. Retrieved August 7, 2011. Jump up ^ Bernstein, Nina ( October 14, 2005 ). `` A Contest of Suffering, With the U.S. as a Prize ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2011. Jump up ^ 673 F. 2d 1036 ( 9th Cir. 1982 ). Jump up ^ Lui v. Holder Archived October 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine., No : 2 : 11 - CV - 01267 - SVW ( JCGx ) ( C.D. Cal. September 28, 2011 ). Retrieved October 4, 2011. Jump up ^ Harmon, Andrew. `` Judge Throws Out Binational Couple 's DOMA Lawsuit ''. The Advocate. Retrieved October 4, 2011. Jump up ^ Wong, Curtis ( January 5, 2012 ). `` Bradford Wells and Anthony John Makk, San Francisco Gay Married Couple, Win Deportation Reprieve For Two Years ''. Huffington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2012. Jump up ^ Foley, Elise ( February 9, 2012 ). `` Same - Sex Couple Wins Immigration Relief, Despite Defense Of Marriage Act ''. Huffington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2012. Jump up ^ Carroll, Susan ( March 9, 2012 ). `` Gay, married immigrant spared from deportation ''. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2012. Jump up ^ Revelis v. Napolitano, 11 C 1991, slip op. ( N.D. Ill. January 5, 2012 ). Retrieved March 2, 2012. ^ Jump up to : Geidner, Chris ( April 2, 2012 ). `` Immigration Equality Files DOMA Challenge, Obama Administration Left Them ' No Choice ' ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2012. Jump up ^ Revelis v. Napolitano, granting motion to stay Archived September 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., July 12, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012 Jump up ^ `` Blesch v. Holder ( Immigration Equality 's DOMA case ) put on hold ''. Prop8TrialTracker. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2012. Jump up ^ Geidner, Chris ( June 19, 2012 ). `` Same - Sex Couples Facing Immigration Questions Receive Temporary Relief From DOJ Immigration Board ''. Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Judge rules lesbian immigrant can challenge DOMA ''. U-T San Diego. April 20, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2013. Jump up ^ Dobuzinskis, Alex ( July 13, 2012 ). `` Lesbian immigrant from PH challenges US gay marriage ban ''. ABS - CBN News. Retrieved April 23, 2013. Jump up ^ Reilly, Mollie ( June 29, 2013 ). `` Gay Couple Receives Green Card After Supreme Court Ruling : DOMA Project ''. Huffington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2013. Jump up ^ Bunch, Joey ( July 5, 2013 ). `` Boulder lesbian couple gets green card after DOMA falls - The Denver Post ''. Denver Post. Retrieved July 6, 2013. Jump up ^ 560 F. 3d 1145 ( 9th Cir. 2009 ). Jump up ^ `` Federal judge rules denial of health coverage to same - sex spouse unconstitutional ''. Los Angeles Times. February 9, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009. Jump up ^ In re Kandu, 315 B.R. 123, 138 ( Bankr. D. Wash. 2004 ). Retrieved February 26, 2011. Archived February 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` DOMA 's Unlikely Victim 's ''. The Advocate. September 28, 2004. p. 15. Retrieved February 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Wilson v. Ake, 354 F. Supp. 2d 1298 ( M.D. Fla. 2005 ). Jump up ^ Smelt v. County of Orange, 447 F. 3d 673 ( 9th Cir. 2006 ). Retrieved August 2, 2012. Jump up ^ `` U.S. Supreme Court refuses marriage case ''. Jump up ^ Smelt v. United States, Notice of Removal. Retrieved November 6, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Gay California couple 's lawsuit dismissed ''. UPI. Retrieved February 26, 2011. Jump up ^ Bishop v. Oklahoma, 447 F. Supp. 2d 1239 ( N.D. Okla. 2006 ). Retrieved February 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Bishop v. US, No. 04 - CV - 848 - TCK - TLW, slip op. ( N.D. Okla. November 24, 2009 ). Retrieved August 1, 2012. Jump up ^ Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___, ___ ( 2015 ) ( `` The Court now holds that same - sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. '' ). Bibliography Feigen, Brenda. `` Same - Sex Marriage : An Issue of Constitutional rights not Moral Opinions. '' 2004. 27 Harv. Women 's L.J. 345. `` Litigating the Defense of Marriage Act : The Next Battleground for Same - Sex Marriage. '' 2004. 117 Harv. L. Rev. 2684. Manning, Jason ( April 30, 2004 ). `` Backgrounder : The Defense of Marriage Act ''. The Online News Hour. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Retrieved January 13, 2007. `` Same Sex Marriage Passage '' CQ Weekly. Congressional Quarterly. May 2, 2005. United States. 104th Congress. Defense of Marriage Act. House of Representatives Committee Report. 1996. Wardle, Lynn D. `` A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Claims for Same Sex Marriage. '' 1996. 1996 B.Y.U.L. Rev. 1. Carter, W. Burlette. `` The Federal Law of Marriage : Deference, Deviation and DOMA. '' 2013. 21 Am. U.J. Gender, Soc. Pol'y & L 70 ; http://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications/701/ External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : Defense of Marriage Act Wikinews has news related to : Defense of Marriage Act GovTrack THOMAS ( Library of Congress ) LGBT rights in the United States By entity Federal One, Inc. v. Olesen Order 1895 - 94 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 Executive Order 12968 Romer v. Evans Executive Order 13087 Lawrence v. Texas Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act Do n't Ask, Do n't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 United States v. Windsor Executive Order 13672 Obergefell v. Hodges Pavan v. Smith Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Repealed or overturned federal laws Immigration Act of 1917 Immigration Act of 1952 Executive Order 10450 Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Bowers v. Hardwick Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 Defense of Marriage Act Executive Order 13769 Presidential Memorandum of August 25, 2017 Presidential Memorandum of March 23, 2018 States or Commonwealths Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal district District of Columbia Unincorporated territories American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands By type Adoption Age of consent Bans on conversion therapy for minors Hate crimes Housing discrimination Intersex rights Military Gender identity Sexual orientation Employment discrimination by municipality State bans on local anti-discrimination laws Immigration No promo homo laws Public accommodations Religious exemptions Same - sex unions Civil unions Domestic partnerships by municipality Marriage State bans on local anti-discrimination laws Transgender rights Voting Repealed or overturned Bans on same - sex unions State constitutional amendments Same - sex unions Civil unions Domestic partnerships State statutes Same - sex unions Civil unions Domestic partnerships Bathrooms Sodomy See also Lavender scare LGBT movements Sex Deviates Program LCCN : no96058318 VIAF : 185296971 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Defense_of_Marriage_Act&oldid=834188205 '' Categories : 104th United States Congress 1990s in LGBT history 1996 in law 1996 in the United States Clinton administration controversies Defense of Marriage Act Discrimination against LGBT people in the United States LGBT rights in the United States Same - sex marriage in the United States United States federal civil rights legislation Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use mdy dates from July 2012 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017 Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Deutsch Eesti Español فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia 日本 語 Português Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Svenska 中文 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 4 April 2018, at 11 : 47. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what did the defense of marriage act (doma) state
Answer: defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman