Senator Feinstein is a fine ally (despite a shaky start in the 1980s). To quote: “I count on all of you to keep the pressure on Washington until we achieve our shared mission: equal treatment under the law for all LGBT Americans.” That said, I have doubts that the effort will be successful, we are in the election phase and pandering to bigots is a vote winner for too many people.
It’s going nowhere. The republicans will filibuster any attempt to overturn DOMA. Apparently, in the U.S. Senate, you need a 60 vote majority which won’t happen because there are several very conservative democrats who come from equally conservative states who will not support passage, just as they have done on a lot of other legislation. They voted with the republicans to defeat virtually everything the Obama administration tried to get passed. It will be many many decades before marriage equality happens in the remaining 44 states and if New Hampshire’s and Iowa’s ame-sex marriage laws are overturned, 46.
Even in this ended up at the Supreme Court of the United States, there are 5 staunchly conservative catholic judges who would not overturn it.
Yes, even if it passed in the Senate it would never would be enacted and passed in the Republican controlled House. As one commentator opined in this thread,it will take many years before members of our community in the US will have the same rights to marry with all the accompanying benefits therein, as our heterosexual brethren.
We have a very similar situation in Europe. It is very wrong that a marriage conducted in one EU member state is not recognised in another. It would be a major advance if this could be changed as it would effectively open marriage up to same sex couples across the whole of the EU, including several homophobic regimes. This is where we must focus our efforts once we have achieved marriage equality in the UK.
The Respect for Marriage Act is not about any right to same-sex marriage or about recognition of same-sex marriages by other States. The bill is purely about recognition of same-sex marriages by the Federal government, the state in which a couple reside and are therefore citizens of would decide whether same-sex marriage was recognised. If it did so would the Federal government.
The Republicans in the US are setting a dangerous precedent to its own cherished “states rights” platform. DOMA is a major incursion into the rights of states to legislate within their own constitutionally allowed areas. DOMA is saying to the 50 states that the federal government will now decide which laws it feels are valid. Can you imagine the hue and cry if the opposite were in place. What if the law read the federal government would withhold benefits from those states that outlaw equal marriage.
Robert, thanks for your comment; I didn’t know you needed a 60 vote majority in the US Senate- very interesting. We shall see what happens in the next couple weeks, then.
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Senator Feinstein is a fine ally (despite a shaky start in the 1980s). To quote: “I count on all of you to keep the pressure on Washington until we achieve our shared mission: equal treatment under the law for all LGBT Americans.” That said, I have doubts that the effort will be successful, we are in the election phase and pandering to bigots is a vote winner for too many people.
Bring it on!!
It’s going nowhere. The republicans will filibuster any attempt to overturn DOMA. Apparently, in the U.S. Senate, you need a 60 vote majority which won’t happen because there are several very conservative democrats who come from equally conservative states who will not support passage, just as they have done on a lot of other legislation. They voted with the republicans to defeat virtually everything the Obama administration tried to get passed. It will be many many decades before marriage equality happens in the remaining 44 states and if New Hampshire’s and Iowa’s ame-sex marriage laws are overturned, 46.
Even in this ended up at the Supreme Court of the United States, there are 5 staunchly conservative catholic judges who would not overturn it.
Yes, even if it passed in the Senate it would never would be enacted and passed in the Republican controlled House. As one commentator opined in this thread,it will take many years before members of our community in the US will have the same rights to marry with all the accompanying benefits therein, as our heterosexual brethren.
We have a very similar situation in Europe. It is very wrong that a marriage conducted in one EU member state is not recognised in another. It would be a major advance if this could be changed as it would effectively open marriage up to same sex couples across the whole of the EU, including several homophobic regimes. This is where we must focus our efforts once we have achieved marriage equality in the UK.
The Respect for Marriage Act is not about any right to same-sex marriage or about recognition of same-sex marriages by other States. The bill is purely about recognition of same-sex marriages by the Federal government, the state in which a couple reside and are therefore citizens of would decide whether same-sex marriage was recognised. If it did so would the Federal government.
The Republicans in the US are setting a dangerous precedent to its own cherished “states rights” platform. DOMA is a major incursion into the rights of states to legislate within their own constitutionally allowed areas. DOMA is saying to the 50 states that the federal government will now decide which laws it feels are valid. Can you imagine the hue and cry if the opposite were in place. What if the law read the federal government would withhold benefits from those states that outlaw equal marriage.
Robert, thanks for your comment; I didn’t know you needed a 60 vote majority in the US Senate- very interesting. We shall see what happens in the next couple weeks, then.