A Massachusetts legal advocacy group is bringing a lawsuit against the federal government, claiming the denial of federal marriage benefits specifically to gay and lesbian married couples. They state that the federal government's refusal to recognize their marriages is a violation of the constitutional equal protection statutes.
While Massachusetts and Connecticut, have legalized same-sex marriage, the federal government continues to deny the legality of these unions, citing Congress's Defense of Marriage Act (DMA) that was passed in 1996. Under this act, the federal government is actually prohibited from recognizing same-sex marriage, making the DMA the official target of the Massachusetts suit.
Although there are very few plaintiffs represented in this case, the thought is that as more and more states legalize same-sex marriage the number of people affected by the DMA vis-a -vis marriage benefits will skyrocket.
Marriage is a factor in more than 1,100 federal statutory provisions; however, the suit will only focus on Social Security, federal income tax, federal employees and passports. These are issues that everyone can relate to, according to the group's project director.
These benefits all boil down to sharing of money, insurance benefits and legal protections.
If a couple is denied these benefits, they are hit with higher taxes, unable to be covered by their spouse's insurance and unable to procure a form of internationally recognized photo identification.
By denying these benefits to same-sex couples, we are creating another group of second-class citizens.
It is easy to side with the plaintiffs in this case. People that are married are both beholden and dependent on one another.
Marriage, in some ways, is the creation of one entity from two people. If we deny that entity its rights, then we restrict its quality of life. Period.
The problem is that federal laws are meant to govern the entirety of the United States, and so far, only two out of 50 states have legalized same-sex marriage. It's not that these laws aren't being immorally, shortsightedly and borderline maliciously applied, it's just that this group is going about changing a federal law backwards.
A federal law of this magnitude will only be changed when it can be demonstrated to the Supreme Court, where this will surely end up, that the change will have a positive effect on the majority of the nation. Until the majority of states have legalized same-sex unions, it doesn't make sense to go to the courts.
The sad truth is that a married same-sex couple is a pair of second-class citizens in this country. It's understandable to want to change that now, but until the wind is really at our back, we risk making things worse with our haste.
This is a battle that must be fought intelligently. The intelligent choice is to build our forces - the states that have legalized same-sex marriage - before we storm the castle.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
