OpenCongress Blog

Blog Feed Comments Feed More RSS Feeds

Democrats Take First Step Towards Federal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage

November 11, 2011 - by Donny Shaw

For the first time ever, a congressional committee has voted to require the federal government and all states to recognize same-sex marriages. Yesterday, on a party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Respect for Marriage Act, which states that, "for the purposes of any Federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual’s marriage is valid in the State where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any State, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a State.”

The bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996, before any state allowed same-sex marriages. DOMA defined marriage, for federal purposes, as “between one man and one women,” and declared that states could not be forced to recognize marriages from from other states that do not comply with that definition. The law has a negative economic impact on same-sex married couples by denying them the ability to file their taxes jointly and take deductions that heterosexual couples are eligible for.

It’s unclear at this point whether the bill will be given a vote in the full Senate this session. Even if it does get a vote, it would almost certainly fall short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster.

Like this post? Stay in touch by following us on Twitter, joining us on Facebook, or by Subscribing with RSS.
Dianne Feinstein doma DOMA Marriage marriage
 

Comments

  • nancym 11/11/2011 5:26pm
    Link Reply
    + 1
    ↓

    Wow. With apologies to all my gay friends, married or unmarried, I have to say, gee, what an URGENT matter this is (NOT!) Since we all know this has a flame’s chance in hell of passing, it’s obvious it’s just a ploy to get votes from the gay community, or maybe they’re just tired of simply twiddling their thumbs there in those committees?

  • Comm_reply
    anjelbasque 11/28/2011 10:49pm
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    i like your blog. thanks for sharing! keep posting good stuff!

    Soccer Games

  • Comm_reply
    woodapple 12/01/2011 9:56pm
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    Oh. I really like your comic picture.. Really nice sense of humour… Really like it. :) Cheap Chanel Handbags

  • businessloan01 11/11/2011 8:58pm
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    business loan with bad credit
    small business loans bad credit

  • mmitsuzono 11/13/2011 2:11am
    Link Reply
    + 4
    ↓

    i think it’s totally pointless to have this symbolic votes. it might not be urgent to most people, but i assume it would be for gay people and their families and friends.

    women used to not have rights to property or divorce without husbands’ consent.
    People including abolitionists like Frederick Douglas said it was a good thing but we wouldn’t do anything about it because it was not urgent. it took 70 years and while all these years, domestic violence against women was much more common and accepted.

    interracial marriage was illegal in many states until 1960s. Today interracial couples are still very small in their numbers. but it has a huge social impact.

    gay marriage not only grant practical rights to gay couples but also signal to the society at large that gay people are not inferior to heterosexual people. It will reduce abuses against gay people greatly as it did for women.

  • mmitsuzono 11/13/2011 2:11am
    Link Reply
    + 2
    ↓

    oops, i meant to write "i think it’s NOT totally pointless to have this symbolic vote. " :)

  • Jstrandberg 11/17/2011 8:52pm
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    My taxes pay for these buffoons to be in office… This vote is not in the best interest of this country… Voting on budget cuts is…

  • coachoutletus 12/25/2011 4:58am
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    >mulberry outlet mulberry outlet mulberry sale mulberry sale mulberry bags mulberry bags


    mulberry outlet mulberry outlet mulberry sale mulberry sale


    mulberry outlet mulberry outlet chanel outlet chanel outlet


    karen millen dresses karen millen dress chanel bags chanel bags

  • becauseican 02/08/2012 12:26pm
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    Thank you for the posts. I found the information to be informative and useful.
    roof repair berkeley

  • itiswhatitisnt 02/11/2012 6:13pm
    Link Reply
    + 0
    ↓

    I really enjoyed the information on your website and the comments of your guests.
    home inspection brentwood


Get Blog Updates by Email

Delivered by FeedBurner

Demand Question Time!



Find us at

Want a simple way to stay on top of what's happening in Congress?

Subscribe to this blog!

Send Us a Tip

You can submit a tip anonymously, or attributed to your own name and e-mail, whichever you prefer. Read more about submitting a tip.

Submit a tip




Recent Posts

Archives

See All Archives

Blogroll


See our Twitter List

Congress Watchers

OpenCongress is a free and open-source project of the Participatory Politics Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to increase civic engagement. The non-profit Sunlight Foundation is the Founding and Primary Supporter of OpenCongress.