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From TPM:
The repeal of DOMA is also instrumental to reforms in the immigration laws that currently keep legally-married couples of dual nationalities from living here. As has been mentioned in a previous thread, MLB's husband has so many legal thresholds to cross for a visa, he doesn't even try anymore, though he has legal claim to land MLB owns (unless there was some sort of prenup that just doesn't sound like MLB). This same nonsense affects thousands of couples who must choose to either live abroad or separate, something no opposite-sex-marriage would ever tolerate.
Of all the head-scratchers of the Clinton presidency, DOMA remains the most perplexing; when he signed it, he lost my respect permanently. Unlike DADT, it wasn't a "compromise" for anything, it's just institutionalized bigotry.
Personally, I think that DOMA's demise will happen in the courts, not legislatively, and will most probably come when a married spouse of a serviceman killed in action will be denied the usual survivor benefits that an opposite-sex spouse would receive."Repealing DOMA, getting ENDA [a bill to protect LGBT people from discrimination] done, those are things that should be done," Obama told The Advocate the night before signing Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal into law. "I think those are natural next steps legislatively. I'll be frank with you, I think that's not going to get done in two years. We're on a three- or four-year time frame unless there's a real transformation of attitudes within the Republican caucus."
The federal Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed in 1996, defines marriage as strictly heterosexual. It's currently facing multiple legal challenges, including two cases from Massachusetts in which a federal judge already ruled that part of the law is unconstitutional. Obama's Justice Department is defending DOMA.
[...]
"I have a whole bunch of really smart lawyers who are looking at a whole range of options," Obama said. "My preference wherever possible is to get things done legislatively because I think it gains a legitimacy, even among people who don't like the change, that is valuable."
"So with 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' I have such great confidence in the effective implementation of this law because it was repealed [legislatively]. We would have gotten to the same place if the court order had made it happen, but I think it would have engendered resistance," he added. "So I'm always looking for a way to get it done if possible through our elected representatives. That may not be possible in DOMA's case. That's something that I think we have to strategize on over the next several months."
The repeal of DOMA is also instrumental to reforms in the immigration laws that currently keep legally-married couples of dual nationalities from living here. As has been mentioned in a previous thread, MLB's husband has so many legal thresholds to cross for a visa, he doesn't even try anymore, though he has legal claim to land MLB owns (unless there was some sort of prenup that just doesn't sound like MLB). This same nonsense affects thousands of couples who must choose to either live abroad or separate, something no opposite-sex-marriage would ever tolerate.
Of all the head-scratchers of the Clinton presidency, DOMA remains the most perplexing; when he signed it, he lost my respect permanently. Unlike DADT, it wasn't a "compromise" for anything, it's just institutionalized bigotry.