House effort to repeal DOMA may be sabotaged by lukewarm Democratic support

Supporters of DOMA repeal. Photo: AP/Charles Dharapak

 At first glance, prospects look good for the newly-hatched Respect for Marriage Act of 2009, which is designed to repeal the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Introduced on September 15 by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) with an impressive 94 cosponsors already in tow, the Respect for Marriage Act has earned the support not only of former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA into law in 1996, but also of former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, who first introduced DOMA.

The new bill has also received the support of the US Conference of Mayors and a myriad of civil rights organizations, including the NAACP and the ACLU; and President Obama has frequently expressed his opposition to DOMA (although his Administration, paradoxically, has defended DOMA in court).

By repealing DOMA, the Respect for Marriage Act would require federal recognition of any same-sex marriage that was legal in whichever state it was performed. This means the 18,000 gay couples who were legally married in California before the passage of Proposition 8 and the tens of thousands of other same-sex couples legally married in Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont and Connecticut will finally have access to the 1,138 federal rights and protections afforded to all married couples, such as tax-free spousal health benefits, spousal immigration rights, the right to take unpaid leave to care for a sick spouse, and spousal Social Security benefits.

Of course, anti-gay-rights groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Mormon website Meridian have predictably already begun to spread the lie that the new bill would force every state to adopt same-sex marriage, when in fact the Respect for Marriage Act only addresses federal recognition.

But the real danger to the bill’s success appears to come from Congressional Democrats, especially openly-gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Both Frank and Pelosi have balked at supporting the effort to repeal DOMA, on the grounds that the timing is bad, and that other gay-rights causes like the inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) have a better chance of passing.

Meanwhile, no Democratic senator seems poised to introduce legislation similar to the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate.

Thus it appears that once again, the leadership of the Democratically-controlled Congress is willing to leave equal rights for LGBT citizens on the back-burner, to the extent that Democratic indifference, rather than Republican opposition, may signal the death knell of this groundbreaking legislation.

Supporters of full federal marriage equality are nevertheless encouraged to contact their Representatives and urge them to cosponsor the Respect for Marriage Act of 2009.

For more info: Text of the Respect for Marriage Act

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Rep. Barney Frank as a congressman from New York.  Frank actually represents the 4th District of Massachussetts.  This article was updated to reflect the change on Sept. 22.