By a 5-4 majority, the U.S. Supreme Court issued
a much-anticipated ruling that determined as unconstitutional the 1996 Defence
of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies federal government benefits to legally
married same-sex couples, on the grounds that it violates the Fifth Amendment, which
protects against abuse of government authority. Linked to the framework of the
DOMA decision, the court also declined to issue a ruling on Proposition 8, the
State of California
However, the court has held
back from any sweeping decision on gay marriage per se and thus ruling will not
affect state laws governing whether same-sex couples can marry. Instead it
will ensure that same-sex couples who are legally married under state law
receive federal benefits, delivered by more than 1,000 programmes, on par with
heterosexual married couples.
In striking down DOMA, which
was signed into law by the former President, Bill Clinton, at a time when gay
marriage was widely opposed by the American public, the Supreme Court said in
its majority opinion, “The federal statute is invalid for, no legitimate
purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the
State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.”
Obama hails decision:- President Barack Obama
welcomed the decision saying in a statement that DOMA was “discrimination
enshrined in law,” and that the Supreme Court “has righted that wrong, and our
country is better off for it.” While he conceded that same-sex marriage was still
a “sensitive” issue and “How religious institutions define and consecrate
marriage has always been up to those institutions,” Mr. Obama said his
administration would seek to “review all relevant federal statutes to ensure
this decision, including its implications for Federal benefits and obligations,
is implemented swiftly and smoothly.
The ruling will also matter
to the ongoing visceral debate on immigration reform, particularly to the
approximately 24,700 bi-national LGBT couples in the U.S. ,
from among whom U.S.
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