US government demands fast-track of gay rights case

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http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/28/us-government-demands-fast-track-of-gay-rights-case/

This week, the US government requested that a federal appeals court hasten its review of a San Francisco gay rights case relating to the Defence of Marriage Act and consider harsher scrutiny for discriminatory laws around sexual orientation, including a standard that could legalise same-sex marriage.

The request was made to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering the constitutionality of the Defence of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that denies federal benefits to same-sex married couples.

Last month, US District Judge Jeffrey White declared the law unconstitutional, ordering the government to allow Karen Golinski, a federal court attorney in San Francisco, to enroll her wife in a federal family insurance plan.

However, lawyers for House Republican leaders – who defended the law – have contested Judge White’s ruling to a panel at the Ninth Circuit. But President Obama’s Justice Department requested that the appeals court forgo said panel – consisting of three judges – and instead convene an 11-judge panel.