The Time for Action is Now…Or Is It?

July 13, 2010 by James Hipps 

After it was determined by a federal judge in Massachusetts last week that DOMA or the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional, some of the more liberal Democrats in the U.S. House are pushing for action on legislation that would repeal the federal law.

Of course this push has some of the anti-gay conservative heads spinning out of control, but oddly enough, while some proponents of same-sex marriage are hailing the ruling, some who support LGBT equality are saying now is not the time to take up the explosive issue.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) who has 112 co-sponsors on his DOMA repeal bill, said the court ruling shows that his legislation is “more relevant today than ever,” and is asking Congress to take up the measure immediately. According to a statement from Nadler:

“I urge the administration and the Congress to work actively to repeal DOMA, in its entirety, and to abandon all efforts to defend that unconstitutional and immoral law.”

But Nadler’s bill hasn’t exactly progressed mostly because of two key equality advocates being House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). The two Democrats have said they’re concerned that Nadler’s bill, which would repeal DOMA lacks the votes needed to pass and rather than put efforts towards a measure that could easily fail, they feel Democrats should progress on other avenues of equality that are more likely to pass including the repeal of DADT and the passing of ENDA.

Even Rep. Tammy Baldwin, another openly gay lawmaker stated the focus should remain on DOMA and ENDA as, “the right of same-sex couples to marry with the same protections, benefits and obligations as straight couples may, ultimately, be decided by the Supreme Court”, but she’s also please with the ruling stating it will “help persuade and ultimately change minds”.

So perhaps we’ll have to see DOMA defended and fought in court. That may not be so bad if the repeal of DADT and the passing of ENDA becomes reality.