New Marriage Challenge Appealed to Supreme Court
- Religion Today
- Published Sep 07, 2012
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A Boston group supporting special rights for homosexuals appealed another case to the U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 22 -- the sixth so far to challenge the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), WORLD News Service reports. In this most recent case, Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) are representing 13 people in (or widowed from) same-sex marriages in Connecticut, Vermont or New Hampshire who are seeking federal benefits related to marital status. Under DOMA, such benefits are only allowed to opposite-sex married couples. A seventh case asks the court to decide the constitutionality of Prop 8, the constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman in California, passed by voters there in 2008. Bill Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation, said pressure was intensifying for the high court justices. "The DOMA cases are the kinds that the Supreme Court would take," Duncan said. "If the Supreme Court does not hear these cases, it means DOMA might not be enforced in states like California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. And that creates a weird situation."