Gay rights cause political strife in U.S.
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The topics of gay rights and same sex marriage are developing into social issues fiercely debated by conservatives and liberals in the United States in the opening months of 2011.
Ten days after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) told reporters that he will call for a bipartisan committee of attorneys to find legal ways to maintain the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law which defines marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman, the Speaker now finds himself defending his theories on the topics to fellow members of the Republican Party.
The Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay rights and same sex marriage organization based in Washington D.C., are voicing their objections to Boehner's March 4 statement.
"Gay and lesbian Americans are fighting for the ability to protect our families, and for our rights and dignity as American citizens," noted Casey Pick, Staff Attorney and Programs Director for the Log Cabin Republicans. "Particularly in a difficult economy, the rights and responsibilities that we are denied under current law make a significant difference in people's everyday lives."
The "current law" that Pick is referring to is DOMA, which was signed into federal law in September 1996 by then president Bill Clinton. It was written by former U.S. representative Bob Barr (R.- Georgia).
The recent event which brought the subjects of same sex marriage and gay rights again to the forefront of U.S. political and social chatter was a Feb. 23 letter that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent to the U.S. Congress on the topics of litigation affiliated with DOMA. The theme of the letter, which was addressed to Speaker Boehner, was made clear in its first sentence:
"After careful consideration, including review of a recommendation from me, the President of the United States has made the determination that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act ... as compared to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the (U. S. Constitution's) Fifth Amendment."
Section 3 of DOMA is the part of the law that specifically discusses the federal law definition of marriage being a conjunction between a man and a woman.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement on the same day of Holder's declaration, which read: "Since its inception, the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act has long been viewed as a violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Today, the President made clear that he agrees."
Reaction to Attorney General Holder's announcement from conservative anti-gay rights and same sex marriage groups was swift and direct.
"There are no good points to the announcement (by Holder)," declared Bryan Fischer, Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association (AFA) which is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi. "It is a shameful dereliction of duty, and, on the part of the President, a violation of his oath of office and his constitutional responsibility to 'take care that the laws be faithfully executed.'"
Fischer's last remarks refer to a clause in the address formally taken by U.S. Presidents when they are inaugurated.
Membership in the AFA is heavily populated by devout conservative Christians, and the debate between liberal pro-gay rights and same sex marriage proponents, and conservative pious Christians, is not confined solely to the United States.
