Respect for Marriage Act - The DOMA Killer
This week, New York Representative Jerrold Nadler introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill intended to repeal Section 2 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. While Section 1 — which permits states not to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages if their own state law does not permit it — will remain untouched, the bill targets the portion of DOMA that restricts marriage in federal law exclusively to heterosexual couples.
If the bill passes, the federal government will recognize legally performed same-sex marriages for the purposes of federal benefits, including:
- Joint income tax filing
- Unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured spouse
- Spousal, mother's and father's, and surviving spouse benefits under Social Security
- Receive equal family health and pension benefits as federal civilian employees
The Human Rights Campaign also reports that the Respect for Marriage Act will bestow inheritance rights, Social Security benefits, insurance benefits, and hospital visitation rights, privileges 7 in 10 Americans believe that same-sex couples should have according to a December 2008 Newsweek/Princeton Research survey.
For anecdotes illustrating why the bill is so important to same-sex couples, as well as a list of the more than 90 co-sponsors of the bill in the House, visit HRC's Back Story.
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