Gill v. OPM and federal domestic partner benefits

03/13/09 Leonard Link:

New York Law School Professor Arthur Leonard posts this update on the latest federal DOMA developments. "It is past time for the Administration to continue mouthing its good intentions to do something in the future," he says. "The issue is here and it is time for action ... only a DOMA repeal and affirmative efforts to adoptive inclusive definitions of federal statutes and regulations complying with the obligation of equal protection of the laws is needed."

03/13/09 Sexual Orientation and the Law Blog:

This post links to today's New York Times article on a test of the Obama administration's will with respect to federal domestic partner benefits:

"Just seven weeks into office, President Obama is being forced to confront one of the most sensitive social and political issues of the day: whether the government must provide health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees."


03/12/09 Edge Boston:

This article concerns the recent challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of eight Massachusetts same-sex couples and three same-sex widows.

Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel and director of Lambda Legal's national marriage project, made several comments. Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, supported by several law firms, will represent "couples who have been married for years and who have very well-documented, specific harms. That’s the very important preparatory work that’s been done." While acknowledging the "conservative" tendency of the U.S. Supreme Court, she anticipates several years of litigation before the Court will have opportunity to consider the case. In the meantime, the case will open "the next chapter of critically important national conversation." She adds that "[o]ur [LGBT] community has a lot of responsibility for continuing the education and community-building and social change work that is in the hands of movement activists but all of us."

"The federal Defense of Marriage Act preserves state sovereignty and prevents one state from rewriting the definition of marriage for every other state," Liberty Counsel founder and chair Mathew Staver said in a statement. "DOMA was passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It is an extreme position to advocate the repeal of DOMA."

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