Obama: Key Part of "Defense of Marriage Act" Unconstitutional

Image from source, Raw Story

A president can't rule on the constitutionality of a law. But he can order his Justice Department to stop defending a law against legal challenges. And so, a crucial first step in the overturning of DOMA (the badly named Defense of Marriage Act) has been made. The ridiculous Clinton-era law (something he regrets) will still be law, but pending legal challenges will not be met by any kind of Justice Department obstacle. This will go a long way toward making Obama's gay critics (and their allies) a little more comfortable with him and his administration.

So, good. DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell) will be--barring some sort of right-wing dirty trick--history soon, and DOMA is on its way to becoming so. If history is any lesson, this means we'll have some sort of minor setback soon, followed by another victory of a sort. And so it goes.

[Excerpt]

Obama declares key section of gay marriage ban ‘unconstitutional’



In a stunning reversal of policy announced Wednesday, President Barack Obama decided that a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act, a Clinton-era law that restricts the benefits of marriage to a man and a woman only, is unconstitutional, and ordered the Department of Justice to stop defending it. . .
 
Read more at: Raw Story