An appeals court in Boston ruled Thursday that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is discriminatory against same-sex couples resulting in a ruling that called the unfair law unconstitutional.
The ruling said DOMA “interferes with the right of a state to define marriage and denies married gay couples federal benefits given to heterosexual married couples, including the ability to file joint tax returns,” according to reports at Boston.com.
Same-sex couples in the lawsuit argued last month that the ruling authority for defining marriage has been, and currently is, left to the state law – a practice some 200 years since Congress passed DOMA and the group’s legal team argued that the defense of DOMA has led to “across-the-board disrespect” for same-sex couples who wish to marry in the state.
Although DOMA was passed in 1996, many states have nevertheless legalized same-sex marriages including Massachusetts, New York, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, and Washington state.
The future for DOMA remains unclear as more states continue to rule against the discriminatory law. Last year, President Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would no longer defend the constitutionality of the law – a large blow to DOMA supporters.
