"DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment."
- Justice Anthony Kennedy
In today's historic landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States knocks down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA]. DOMA restricted same sex marriages from getting the Federal Benefits given to all married couples even if the state in which they are married recognized their marriages including Social Security survivor benefits, immigration rights and family leave.
The Court ruled in favor of Marriage Equality by rejecting DOMA on the basis that the act violated the Fifth Amendment’s protection of equal liberty by making inequality a federal law.
However, residents from states that do not recognize same-sex marriage are unaffected and will not have any benefits. This ruling merely sets the tone that marriage is not to be ruled by an act of the federal government.
This means that in Rhode Island and all of New England, Marriage Equality is the Law but in other states that same sex marriage is not recognized, we still have a lot of work to do.
Thank you to everyone who helped bring us Marriage Equality, we hope that this decision will propel us forward to the next victory in favor of Civil Rights!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/supreme-court-doma-decision_n_3454811.html#150_the-big-problem-with-the-supreme-courts-prop-8-decision
http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/26/in-landmark-ruling-supreme-court-strikes-down-defense-of-marriage-act/
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_g2bh.pdf
The Court ruled in favor of Marriage Equality by rejecting DOMA on the basis that the act violated the Fifth Amendment’s protection of equal liberty by making inequality a federal law.
However, residents from states that do not recognize same-sex marriage are unaffected and will not have any benefits. This ruling merely sets the tone that marriage is not to be ruled by an act of the federal government.
This means that in Rhode Island and all of New England, Marriage Equality is the Law but in other states that same sex marriage is not recognized, we still have a lot of work to do.
Thank you to everyone who helped bring us Marriage Equality, we hope that this decision will propel us forward to the next victory in favor of Civil Rights!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/supreme-court-doma-decision_n_3454811.html#150_the-big-problem-with-the-supreme-courts-prop-8-decision
http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/26/in-landmark-ruling-supreme-court-strikes-down-defense-of-marriage-act/
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-307_g2bh.pdf