Posted by JM Ashby
The Obama administration has declared that DOMA is unconstitutional and that the Justice Department will no longer defend it in court.
Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act "contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships – precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution's)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against."
The Justice Department had defended the act in court until now. [...]
At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said Obama himself is still "grappling" with his personal view of gay marriage but has always personally opposed the Defense of Marriage Act as "unnecessary and unfair."
This is something you would never see a Republican president do -- support something which they do not personally agree with, but feel that it is best for the country anyway. The president doesn't have to agree with gay marriage, nor does anyone else, but you do have to stand up for the rights of others even if their lifestyle does not mirror your own. Again, that is something Republicans, and conservatives in general, do not agree with. Americans need to remember that the next time they go to the polls.