NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE CONDEMNS PRESIDENT OBAMA’S EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT TO SABOTAGE DOMA DEFENSE

NOM Calls on House of Representatives to Intervene to Defend Law

WASHINGTON – The National Organization for Marriage responded to President Obama calling upon the Department of Justice to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act:

“We have not yet begun to fight for marriage,” said Brian Brown, president of NOM.

“The Democrats are responding to their election loss with a series of extraordinary, extra-constitutional end runs around democracy, whether it’s fleeing the state in Wisconsin and Indiana to prevent a vote, or unilaterally declaring homosexuals a protected class under our Constitution, as President Obama just did,” said Brown. “We call on the House to intervene to protect DOMA, and to tell the Obama administration they have to respect the limits on their power. This fight is not over, it has only begun!”

DOMA defines marriage for federal purposes as one man and one woman, and clarifies that states do not have to recognize gay marriage performed in other states.  It was passed in 1996 by bi-partisan majorities and signed into law by President Clinton.  The practical effect of Pres. Obama’s failure to defend DOMA would be to leave a federal trial court’s decision unreviewable by higher courts.

“On the one hand this is a truly shocking extra-constitutional power grab in declaring gay people are a protected class, and it’s also a defection of duty on the part of the President Obama,” said Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of NOM, “On the other hand, the Obama administration was throwing this case in court anyway.  The good news is this now clears the way for the House to intervene and to get lawyers in the court room who actually want to defend the law, and not please their powerful political special interests.”