Marriage has received Christ’s blessing, and it is to be regarded as a sacred institution. True religion is not to counterwork the Lord’s plans. God ordained that man and woman should be united in holy wedlock, to raise up families that, crowned with honor, would be symbols of the family in heaven. And at the beginning of His public ministry Christ gave His decided sanction to the institution that had been sanctioned in Eden. Thus He declared to all that He will not refuse His presence on marriage occasions, and that marriage, when joined with purity and holiness, truth and righteousness, is one of the greatest blessings ever given to the human family.” The Signs of the Times, August 30, 1899.
A United States federal law enacted September 21, 1996, restricts federal marriage benefits and required inter-state marriage recognition to only opposite-sex marriages in the United States. The law passed both houses of Congress by large majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Section 3 of The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) codifies the non-recognition of same-sex marriages for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, Social Security survivors’ benefits, immigration, and the filing of joint tax returns.
Clinton and key legislators have since changed their views and advocated DOMA’s repeal. The current administration announced in 2011 that it had determined that section 3 was unconstitutional and, though it would continue to enforce the law, it would no longer defend it in court. In response, the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives instructed the House General Counsel to defend the law in place of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Section 3 of DOMA has been found unconstitutional in eight federal courts, including the First and Second Circuit Court of Appeals, on issues including bankruptcy, public employee benefits, estate taxes, and immigration. The United States Supreme Court has heard an appeal in one of those cases, with oral arguments on March 27, 2013. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act, March 28, 2013.
A majority of the Supreme Court on March 27, 2013, appeared ready to strike down a key section of a law that withholds federal benefits from gay married couples, as the justices concluded two days of hearings that showed them to be as divided as the rest of the nation over same-sex marriage.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the pivotal justice on the issue, said the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) may have intruded too deeply on the traditional role of state governments in defining marriage. The federal law recognizes marriages only between a man and a woman, and Kennedy said that ignores states “which have come to the conclusion that gay marriage is lawful.” www.washingtonpost.com, March 28, 2013.
A majority of the Supreme Court’s justices expressed skepticism March 27, 2013, about the federal law defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Today’s arguments on DOMA marked the second straight day that the nation’s highest court considered a high-profile case on gay marriage.
After considering a challenge to California’s Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage Tuesday, March 26, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case seeking to overturn the 1996 law signed by President Bill Clinton that defined marriage as heterosexual and prevented gay couples from receiving federal marriage benefits. If the Supreme Court considers the merits of either case, it could issue a landmark ruling on gay marriage by the end of June. www.abcnews.go.com, March 28, 2013.