Led by House Speaker John Boehner, House Republicans are expected to take action this week in defense of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. The move is in direct response to the Obama Administration’s landmark actions in support of greater scrutiny in sexual discrimination cases. With a Friday filing deadline in two related lawsuits on the horizon, time for debate is running out; yet several key questions remain unaddressed on the eve of this anti-LGBT campaign.
According to a story published by the Human Rights Campaign, a recent FOX News survey indicates that social issues like the DOMA debate are not priorities in the eyes of the American public. HRC Back Story writer Michael Cole-Schwarz explains that, while the survey indicates concerns like “reducing unemployment” and “reducing the budget deficit” at the top of the list, House Republican leaders are pushing action against same-sex marriage despite Pew Center Research indicating that 45% of people support legal LGBT unions.
With these statistics in mind, Cole-Schwartz poses a list of seven questions for Boehner and the House Republican leaders regarding their anticipated defense of DOMA.
Among Cole-Schwartz’s chief concerns are how House Republicans will handle current lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA, who will represent them in court if they elect to intervene, and how much taxpayer money will be required to pay for such representation. He also questions the legal grounds upon which Boehner and his colleagues will argue in defense of DOMA, and how they intended to address and debate the discrimination faced by LGBT couples across the nation.
