GLAD, DOMA, The Second Circuit & Your Family

By Steve Ralls on 11/09/2010 @ 02:51 PM

In another bold legal move on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, our allies at Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) have filed a federal law suit, in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

GLAD's lawsuit challenges "Section 3" of DOMA, which prohibits the federal government from extending critically important benefits to LGBT couples whose marriages are legally recognized by their state or local governments. Among those benefits are the ability for American citizens to sponsor their spouses for immigration purposes.

Immigration Equality's legal team has conferred closely with GLAD, over a long period of time, to discuss the impact of DOMA challenges, such as this one, on binational families. Our conclusion? If successful, the defeat of DOMA would be very good news for those families.

The suit announced today by GLAD specifically relates to the Second Circuit, which includes couples (as indicated in the graphic above) who are legally married in Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. The legal challenge follows on the heels of GLAD's successful case in Massachusetts Federal District Court, earlier this summer, which found Section 3 to be unconstitutional.

"DOMA must fall," Mary L. Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director for GLAD, said earlier today. "In 1996, when Congress passed DOMA, the stated goal was to harm gay people and same-sex families with this law, and sadly, it has succeeded. Married gay and lesbian couples fall through the federal safety nets that exist for other married people. We have to keep the press on, and get DOMA off the books, before it does even more harm."

We applaud GLAD's leadership in working to end discrimination against all LGBT families, including binational families who have, for far too long, been denied the same immigration rights as their straight neighbors.

For more information, visit GLAD online.