Pacific Views

Defending marriage.

In 1996, the US Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act. Under DOMA's provisions, marriage is defined as the union of one woman and one man, and states are allowed to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

In today's Seattle Times, there's a story about how DOMA has kept a Washington lesbian couple from being able to file for bankruptcy. The couple was legally married in British Columbia, but a federal bankruptcy judge has ruled that DOMA is constitutional, and that the two women cannot file for bankruptcy as a married couple. That bankruptcy, incidentally, was the result of both partners being diagnosed with cancer. One of the women recently died.

We hope the backers of DOMA and the opponents of same-sex marriage are really proud of what they've wrought.

Posted by Magpie at August 20, 2004 10:26 AM | GLBT | TrackBack(1) | Technorati links |