Gay Marriage
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case about whether married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. “I hope the court strikes down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. It was a bad idea when it was enacted in 1996. That’s why I voted against the law in the first place and why I am a cosponsor today of a bill to repeal the discriminatory law,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said. Sanders and other members of the Senate and House on March 1 filed a friend-of-the court brief saying the law “imposed a sweeping and unjustifiable federal disability on married same-sex couples” in a manner that “lacks any rational connection to legitimate federal interests”
A ruling is expected by June on whether the federal government may, as the law requires, legally discriminate against gay and lesbian couples married in Vermont, eight other states or the District of Columbia where same-sex marriage is now legal. Sanders voted against the law when it passed the House in 1996. Today, he is a cosponsor of Senate legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies tens of thousands of legally married same-sex couples the same rights afforded legally married men and women under more than 1,000 federal laws and regulations.
The court on Tuesday also considered a separate case involving California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
