Well, say hello to progress
NYTIMES ArticleMassachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage, has become the first to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, saying Congress intruded into a matter that should be left to individual states.
This is a milestone. To say the least. I cannot believe this!Massachusetts was also the first state, in 2003, to grant gay couples the right to marry; five other states — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont — have since followed. The challenge, filed in United States District Court here, comes as President Obama and Congress face increasing pressure from gay rights groups to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Ms. Coakley, a Democrat, said the act interfered with states’ rights to define and regulate marriage as they saw fit. While same-sex couples can marry in Massachusetts — Ms. Coakley said more than 16,000 have done so — they are denied federal benefits like Social Security survivors’ payments, the right to file taxes jointly and guaranteed leave from work to care for a sick spouse.
“We cannot and should not be required to violate the equal-protection rights of our citizens in Massachusetts who choose to be married,” Ms. Coakley said, adding that the act forced the state “to disregard the marriages of same-sex couples when implementing federally funded programs.”
Normally I would put this somewhere NOT debate, but I have a feeling even a miniscule of controversy may come out in our discussion.
Either way... let's discuss!
[Edited on 9/7/09 by Ult_Sm86]