New York Joins States Challenging DOMA

As readers of this blog know full well, I believe that federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") is blatantly unconstitutional and enshrines religious based anti-gay bigotry in the federal laws. The First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment clearly bar this law and it's something that ought to be painfully obvious to anyone other than religious extremists and political whores who are afraid of offending the sensibilities of bigots and the aforesaid religious extremists. Now, with the implementation of New York State's marriage equality law, New York State has joined the list of jurisdictions challenging DOMA's constitutionality. First, some highlights from The Advocate on this development:
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New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman filed a brief Tuesday in the case of Windsor v. United States to challenge the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, arguing that DOMA violates same-sex couples’ right to equal protection under the law and must be invalidated.
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The friend-of-the-court brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, argues that DOMA, which in section 3 prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions valid in the state, violates same-sex couples' right to equal protection under the law. The Obama administration announced earlier this year that it would no longer defend DOMA.
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Here are highlights from a press release from Schneiderman's office on the filing:
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NEW YORK – In papers filed in the case of Windsor v. United States, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today challenged the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which redefined marriage for federal purposes to exclude same-sex unions that are valid under state law. The papers—filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York— ask the federal court to accept the Attorney General’s friend-of-the-court brief, which argues that DOMA violates same-sex couples’ right to equal protection under the law as required by the U.S. Constitution. This legal action, which follows Attorney General Schneiderman's pledge last summer to join the court battle over DOMA, follows the historic enactment of the Marriage Equality Act of 2011.
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“The federal Defense of Marriage Act clearly violates the principle of equal justice under law as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and improperly intrudes on the traditional role of states in defining marriage,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “The State of New York has long recognized out-of-state, same-sex marriages and the enactment of the Marriage Equality Act further cements our state’s position on this critical civil rights issue. My office will fight every day to defend the fundamental guarantee of equal protection under law for all New Yorkers.”
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It goes without saying that we can expect more shrieking and wailing from the Christianists and self-enriching whores like Maggie Gallagher and Republicans busy giving the political equivalent of fellatio to the likes of Tony Perkins and religious extremists who disdain the U.S. Constitution.