Gay Groups Turning on Obama Over DOMA Defense

The gay groups are seething, and I can't blame them.

President Obama’s Justice Department filed legal papers late Thursday to dismiss the first same sex marriage case filed in federal court.

The Justice Department defended the Defense Of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which as a candidate then-Sen. Obama opposed, saying that the plaintiffs Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer are seeking a ruling on "whether by virtue of their marital status they are constitutionally entitled to acknowledgment of their union by states that do not recognize same-sex marriage, and whether they are similarly entitled to certain federal benefits. Under the law binding on this Court, the answer to these questions must be no.” Obama Justice Department Defends Defense Of Marriage Act – That Candidate Obama Opposed

There is bound to be some lag, I suppose, as one administration takes over the other's agencies, projects that were started earlier tend to move forward. Maybe this was something the Bush administration started that the Obama guys didn't notice.

Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said that President Obama “has said he wants to see a legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act because it prevents LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) couples from being granted equal rights and benefits," she said. "However, until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system."

That is whitewash, sorry. One way the executive branch executes is by deciding what cases to pursue and what ones to drop. They decided to pursue this one. As CBS News put it:

It's true that the Justice Department is generally tasked with defending acts of Congress. Then again, Bill Clinton's DOJ refused to defend the abortion speech-related provisions of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, and a law mandating criminal penalties for giving paid Medicaid planning advice. Gay activist and Washington lawyer John Aravosis notes other examples of DOJ declining-to-defend.

If Mr. Obama felt strongly enough, or Attorney General Eric Holder believed DOMA was execrable enough, the DOJ could have taken a similar position in court here. At least the president could have coupled his administration's brief of DOMA with a speech calling on Congress to repeal it. Gay Rights Groups Irate After Obama Administration Lauds Defense Of Marriage Act

Aravosis' blog, linked in the CBS post, is worth following up on. AmericaBlog has been following this and linking to other blogs. The consensus is that Obama has abandoned the gay community with this action. The administration's arguments in this case undermined the gay community's positions vehemently, it is not simply a legal defense, it is a counterattack on those who believe marriage should be an option for loving couples regardless of their sex.

Here is the press release that was released yesterday by a lot of groups joined together:

6/12/2009

We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to treat them equally with respect to federal protections and benefits. The administration is using many of the same flawed legal arguments that the Bush administration used. These arguments rightly have been rejected by several state supreme courts as legally unsound and obviously discriminatory.

We disagree with many of the administration’s arguments, for example that DOMA is a valid exercise of Congress’s power, is consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and does not impinge upon rights that are recognized as fundamental.

We are also extremely disturbed by a new and nonsensical argument the administration has advanced suggesting that the federal government needs to be “neutral” with regard to its treatment of married same-sex couples in order to ensure that federal tax money collected from across the country not be used to assist same-sex couples duly married by their home states. There is nothing “neutral” about the federal government’s discriminatory denial of fair treatment to married same-sex couples: DOMA wrongly bars the federal government from providing any of the over one thousand federal protections to the many thousands of couples who marry in six states. This notion of “neutrality” ignores the fact that while married same-sex couples pay their full share of income and social security taxes, they are prevented by DOMA from receiving the corresponding same benefits that married heterosexual taxpayers receive. It is the married same-sex couples, not heterosexuals in other parts of the country, who are financially and personally damaged in significant ways by DOMA. For the Obama administration to suggest otherwise simply departs from both mathematical and legal reality.

When President Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he believed that DOMA should be repealed. We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA and ensure that every married couple in America has the same access to federal protections. LGBT Legal And Advocacy Groups Decry Obama Administration's Defense of DOMA

The statement was signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force -- groups across the full spectrum of gay-rights-supporting organizations.

Obama campaigned on a message of hope and fairness for all people. Progressive voters supported him a hundred fifty percent, and breathed a gigantic sigh of relief as soon as he was sworn in -- until a few minutes later when evangelist preacher Rick Warren gave the benediction. Where Obama had promised to throw out the don't ask, don't tell policy for the military, after he was in office he revised his views and now it appears the administration is going "study" the idea, e.g., do nothing. The Defense of Marriage Act is a major impediment to getting full rights for gay couples across the country. It was not necessary to oppose it vigorously if the President was afraid of losing the nuttier voters, all he had to do was enforce it weakly, let cases drop -- the passive approach is always politically wiser, as it leaves less room for blame. Instead Obama has chosen to defend DOMA vehemently in court.

Maybe the Democratic Party doesn't need the progressive voters. Maybe now that they're the status quo they can appeal to the middle and ignore those who want equality for all. I don't know what they're thinking.