sometimes,my paper surprises me. editorial against DOMA

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2011/08/01/opinion/doc4e34f80e89912604026006.txt

Legacy statement on Defense of Marriage Act
Published: Sunday, July 31, 2011 1:38 AM CDT
The following statement was issued by Katy Coldwell, executive director of legacy Community health Services on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing “S. 598 The Respect for Marriage Act: Assessing the Impact of DOMA on American Families”

“Legacy Community Health Services applauds Senator Leahy (D-VT) and the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary for holding a hearing on The Respect for Marriage Act – S. 598- and moving forward on righting the wrongs of our past.

“Today’s hearing highlighted the harm that the so-called “Defense of Marriage” (DOMA) causes to American families. When the federal government refuses to recognize same sex marriages, it inflicts emotional and financial pains on one group of Americans. LGBT couples are denied health coverage for their families because of DOMA. LGBT American citizen are unable to sponsor their spouse for residency here in the U.S. because the federal government refuses to recognize the marriages of same sex couples. In fact, there are more than 1,000 federal benefits that same sex couples who have a marriage recognized at the state level are denied at the federal level. As more and more states grant same sex couples the ability to marry, pressure will continue to grow for the federal government to repeal the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act. It is time for our country to move forward and end the discrimination enshrined in law by the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996.”